Five matches without a win has seen Pep Guardiola’s impressive start to life in Manchester halted, but his side can get back on track with a win in the EFL Cup over Manchester United.

In what will be the second installment of Guardiola - Jose Mourinho this season, the City boss takes his side to Old Trafford desperate for a result after their disappointing 1-1 draw with Southampton last weekend.

Ahead of the tie, and despite being on a difficult run, the Catalan manager insists his team are “together” as they go about turning their form around.

Following the match with the Saints, Guardiola said: “We are going to accept the situation: five games without winning because something happened. We want to go up and up.

The disappointing results featured draws with the likes of Celtic and Everton as well as suffering a 2-0 loss at Premier League rivals Tottenham and a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League.

No City crisis

Guardiola also played down any crisis talk and explained that situations like this “can happen” despite previously being on an excellent run.

He continued: “I was a football player and I know this can happen. You are able to win 10 times in a row and after you are not able to win five times. That is part of football and you have to accept that.

I have to discover the reason why and I am going to find that. I have to help the team achieve.

Guardiola will take heart from the fact that United were beaten 4-0 by Chelsea at the weekend and come into the match also under significant pressure.

But, with a congested fixture schedule, and the EFL Cup not necessarily high on the agenda for both clubs, we could see more youthful line ups occupy both dressing rooms on Wednesday night.

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About the author
Ben Strange
Sports journalism at Southampton Solent University