Some Manchester City players are doubtful to feature against Newcastle United in the opening leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday evening, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
The Blues secured their first win of 2026 at the weekend as they put ten past League One’s Exeter City to seal a place in the FA Cup fourth round – in the backdrop of three consecutive Premier League draws against Sunderland, Chelsea and Brighton to begin the calendar year.
Guardiola’s side are fighting for silverware on four fronts as they hunt down Premier League leaders Arsenal – who have a six point lead over second-placed Manchester City – in a bid to improve upon a disappointing, trophyless 2024-25 campaign.
Manchester City were handed a double injury blow in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea earlier this month as Josko Gvardiol suffered a tibial fracture on his right leg and Ruben Dias picked up a hamstring injury – with both unavailable for the foreseeable future.
City have since re-called academy graduate Max Alleyne from loan at Watford and thrown the 20-year-old straight into action against Brighton and Exeter in the last week, with the Englishman in line to feature at St. James’ Park on Tuesday night.
Mateo Kovacic, John Stones and Oscar Bobb have remained unavailable in recent weeks, with executives at the Etihad Stadium intensifying their pursuit of Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi to bolster their backline after securing the arrival of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth.
Previewing Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final opener against Newcastle United, Guardiola has issued a concerning update on his squad’s fitness, with some players ‘suffering from niggles’.
“We’ll see after training,” Guardiola said in a press conference on Monday afternoon. “We have some players with niggles and we’ll see how they feel this afternoon. We’re going to take a decision, no risks for the players to get injured again.”
After scoring his first goal for Manchester City in over 600 days in Saturday’s 10-1 win over Exeter, Rodri could retain his place in the starting XI against Newcastle, with Nico Gonzalez available but unlikely to be re-called straight into the lineup.
Rico Lewis grabbed what has become an increasingly rare opportunity to start with both hands at the weekend and Guardiola could decide to reward the 21-year-old with another start, keeping one eye on Saturday’s Manchester derby.
City are still missing Omar Marmoush, who is representing Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, but Rayan Ait-Nouri is in line to travel to the north-east, having returned to England after Algeria’s elimination from the tournament.
Guardiola will be wary of fielding a weak starting XI against the Magpies in the opening leg of the semi-final tie, with new signing Antoine Semenyo expected to start alongside Erling Haaland in attack after scoring and providing an assist on his Manchester City debut against Exeter.
