Challenging Newcastle United, Manchester City is Hampered by the Choice of Second Tier Players in the Carabao Cup

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola joked about wanting to play alone when his team traveled to Newcastle (photo: Twitter @ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola joked that he might be tempted to play alone when his team visits Newcastle on Wednesday 27 or Thursday, September 28 Wester Indonesian Time (WIB). But he will likely only attract players from the Man City Academy to play in the Carabao Cup.

City will certainly be without Rodri (suspended), Kevin De Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva (both injured) in that match. Meanwhile, John Stones is unlikely to return from his injury problems, and Mateo Kovacic will only have three days of training after his injury. Likewise, Jack Grealish returned on  Saturday as a substitute, but may not be ready to start.

Then, Guardiola said that Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias would take a break because their recent workload was heavy. This suggests that the likes of Erling Haaland - who has missed just 11 minutes for City this season - may also get a break. It's just that, none of the academy players are ready to step up like in previous seasons.

There are enough cover players to form a competitive main XI, assuming the likes of Stefan Ortega, Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis, Sergio Gomez, and Kalvin Phillips are available.

Julian Alvarez will probably get a chance up front after appearing effectively as a number ten midfielder recently, while the return of Kovacic and Grealish will help. Jeremy Doku was sacrificed after Rodri's red card against Nottingham Forest so may be fitter than the others.

Oscar Bobb is also hoping to make his full debut for City after being promoted to the first team last summer. The Carabao Cup third round tie, regardless of opponent, is likely to be his, and last year's Academy Player of the Year could drop on the right wing to give the rest of the squad some much-needed rest.

However, outside of Bobb, none of the talented young players are ready to step up after the summer sales saw the likes of Carlos Borges, Shea Charles and Dire Mebude leave permanently. Even James McAtee left on loan.

This leaves a younger Elite Development squad, with the Under-21s having their own important game on  Tuesday 26 September, further complicating the schedule.

After coming back to beat Grimsby on penalties in their EFL Trophy opener, the youngsters will travel to League One club Barnsley for the toughest match of their group stage.

Brian Barry-Murphy will need his best players - although if Guardiola needs them then he will have to adapt. City's Under-21 team has recovered from a poor start. They will try to provide resistance in an important match against a team that almost entered the Championship League last season.

Of the current players, Joel Ndala trained with the senior team on  Sunday, September 24 while Will Dickson, Max Alleyne, and Justin Oboavwoduo are also highly regarded by Guardiola's staff and have trained with the first team this season. However, that is not an indication of opportunities for the first team, as the youngsters may only be needed for tactical work or to fill out the squad.

In previous years, the likes of McAtee, Tommy Doyle, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and others have been ready to step up, and when Guardiola needed a group of academy players in the Carabao Cup against Wycombe two seasons ago, there were a number of options.

However, the characteristics of this year's EDS squad mean that they are younger and less advanced in their development, giving Guardiola more limited options. It is common for big teams like City to only field second-string players or from their academy in the early rounds, to rest the core players.

Seeing this signal, Newcastle could make a surprise if they want to field core players to block Pep's troops.