Pep Guardiola determined to avoid FA Cup upset against ‘tricky’ Plymouth

Plymouth have already knocked Liverpool and Brentford out of the competition

(PA Wire)

Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City side any complacency could prove costly as they host Championship strugglers Plymouth in the FA Cup this weekend.

The Pilgrims have already shocked an albeit weakened Liverpool and Brentford in the competition this season and Guardiola does not want to become another high-level casualty as they clash in the fifth round.

City are enduring a difficult campaign by their own lofty standards and, with the Premier League title gone and the Champions League over, the FA Cup represents an opportunity to salvage something from the season.

The City manager said: “They’re tricky. OK, maybe they don’t have the quality individually, like Premier League, accept it.

“But what they do, they do really well. When they can apply themselves and they do better than we want to do, then we are in trouble. Tomorrow will not be an exception if we are not focused.

“This is an opportunity to arrive in the last eight of the FA Cup again and we want to do it.”

Plymouth’s results have improved since Wayne Rooney was sacked as manager on New Year’s Eve with the team bottom of the Championship.

New boss Miron Muslic has lifted the side within three points of safety as well as overseeing two eye-catching defeats of Premier League sides, including leaders Liverpool, in the previous cup rounds.

Guardiola has been impressed with what he has seen of them.

He said: “I would say it wasn’t just against Liverpool, it’s been in other games. The patterns are the same. They defend really, really well and are aggressive up front. They make incredible movements.

“We are expecting a difficult game.”

Muslic, an Austrian who has previously managed Cercle Brugge, this week hailed Guardiola as a “giant” of football and said it would be the “biggest honour” of his life to face him.

Guardiola, who has guided City to six Premier League titles and a Champions League triumph, said: “I have an incredible bottle of wine after the game for him after these words. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. It’s an honour for me to meet him tomorrow.”

The game comes as City continue to await a verdict from an independent commission after being charged with more than 100 alleged breaches of Premier League regulations relating to financial issues.

Different allegations came on Thursday as Javier Tebas, the president of LaLiga, accused the club of presiding over an Enron-style financial scandal by using external companies to artificially keep costs down. LaLiga reported the matter to the European Commission.

City have strenuously denied wrongdoing and Guardiola refused to answer questions about Tebas at his latest press conference on Friday.

“Next,” he said, twice, when the subject was raised.

However, he reiterated previous remarks that he would speak on the Premier League case when a judgement was reached.

“It happened in the past for UEFA and in a few weeks it will happen in the Premier League, the sentence (outcome),” he said. “We wait and after we talk.”