Pep Guardiola will miss six key stars vs Manchester United

Pep Guardiola will be without six of his key stars when his Manchester City side takes on Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final.

Long without a trophy, Manchester United will be hoping that they can end their wait this season by winning the League Cup. While Tottenham Hotspur have already booked their place in the final, Solskjaer’s side will have to go through Manchester City in the semi-final if they want to book their place at Wembley.

And they will go into the game tonight as the favourites, with Pep Guardiola’s side in the middle of a crisis. The pandemic has hit them hard as a number of their players have tested positive recently while many of them are injured as well.

As a result, Pep Guardiola will be without six of his key stars when his side takes on the Red Devils. Bernardo Silva is out due to a suspension. According to Manchester Evening News, Ederson and Ferran Torres are in isolation. Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake are injured, while Eric Garcia is also isolating.

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This means that they are pretty much exposed at the back and United’s in-form attack are expected to put a few past the City defence. To be very honest, they could have not imagined that they would be in as good a position as they are now.

Failing to win this game will be a huge blow to Solskjaer’s side though. They might be at the top of the Premier League right now but a lot of that is due to the struggles of those around them as nobody has managed to find any consistency this season.

Even then, United are without a win against any of the top six. Also, they have already lost multiple semi-finals under the tutelage of Solskjaer. Thus, this is a massive test for both the managers and the players. A win could signal that this team has finally developed and is ready to take the next step. On the other hand, a defeat could raise questions about their title challenge.