MX23RW : Friday, November 29 01:18:56| >> :60:395:395:

Guardiola happy to dream of warm-weather camp as Man City battle on four fronts

City have taken advantage of mid-season gaps in the fixture schedule in previous years to travel to work in Abu Dhabi.

Pep Guardiola is happy for the "dream" of a warm-weather training camp to wait as Manchester City pursue glory on four fronts.

City have taken advantage of mid-season gaps in the fixture schedule in previous years to travel to work in Abu Dhabi.

Rivals Manchester United have spent the past week in Dubai but City could not head abroad because they were involved in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Manchester City training
Manchester City do not have many fixture gaps to head for warm-weather training (Mike Egerton/PA)

With one Premier League game already needing to be rearranged, and title-chasing City also continuing in the FA Cup and Champions League, it may not happen this year.

"It would be a dream," City boss Guardiola said.

"Last season this period was quite similar but after Wigan beat us in the FA Cup we took time to go there.

"But this morning I saw the schedule. The Everton game is going to be fixed in another week. We don't have many (gaps).

"We will see but hopefully not because that would mean (we) will continue in the FA Cup and especially the Champions League. If we don't, we will have this time in the summer."

City are firmly back in the title race after beating Liverpool to cut the Reds' lead at the top of the table to four points in their crunch clash last week.

With a star-studded squad and the considerable weight of past league successes behind them, City could make life uncomfortable for the Merseysiders but Guardiola feels the crown is still Liverpool's to lose.

"I prefer to be in Liverpool's position," said City boss Guardiola at a press conference to preview Monday's encounter with Wolves.

City will hope to have Sergio Aguero back to face Wolves after a bout of illness but Gabriel Jesus excelled in his place in Wednesday's 9-0 thrashing of Burton, scoring four times.

The 21-year-old put his renewed confidence of late down to having his family over to stay from Brazil but they are now due to return home.

Guardiola accepts it can be difficult for youngsters to settle in different countries but has promised that City will be there to support him.

He said: "The players know they are in an incredible club who try to take care of all of us, all the people working in this organisation.

"The private life is the private life and if they need something we are there. We are there to help.

"Of course, we cannot substitute the mother and when the family can't be there, it's difficult. They have to handle the situation but of course he is not alone, he has friends.

"He has an incredible relationship with the Brazilian guys, like Danilo, Fernandinho, Eddie (Ederson), Bernardo, many, many players here.

"I think it won't be a problem for the next months."

There were suggestions Kevin De Bruyne, who only recently returned from injury, was unhappy about being substituted after 58 minutes against Burton but Guardiola claimed to know little about it.

He said: "I didn't speak with him."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Andy Hampson, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '0b12c406-1fc7-4def-89f9-1d732ff08227');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Guardiola happy to dream of warm-weather camp as Man City battle on four fronts'});

ID:346566: cacheID:346566:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9669:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Matt Doherty celebrates scoring his late winner for Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 9, 2018
Read Next:
Spurs 'monitoring Doherty contract developments'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1.20am
Dolphins
@
Packers
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!