Ilkay Gundogan: Man City taking Bristol City seriously

Ilkay Gundogan claims Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will leave nothing to chance against Bristol City in the Carabao Cup.

Guardiola's Premier League leaders are strong favourites to win the semi-final tie but midfielder Gundogan knows his manager will have prepared meticulously for everything the Championship side can offer in Tuesday's first leg.

The Robins, fourth in the second tier, have already surprised four top-flight sides, including Manchester United, en route to the last four.

Gundogan said: "The manager and his staff always know what they need to show us or not.

"When they come here to our stadium, we can be quite sure they are going to play very defensively, especially in the first leg. That is what we all expect at the moment.

"But they can also surprise us. We need to be ready for every single case.

"Normally at this point, it is not so needed that the manager has to tell us a lot.

"We know how we need to play against every kind of formation - if it is a back four or five, if it is one striker or two, if we need to build up or attack where the spaces are. He just needs to remind us.

"In general it is quite similar. It is just about remembering. In the end, it is up to us to show it on the pitch."

City's seemingly relentless march in four competitions continued on Saturday as they eased into round four of the FA Cup with a 4-1 win over Burnley.

They have another big game coming up next Sunday as they travel to Liverpool but, while squad rotation may come into play this week, Gundogan is confident there will be no loss of intensity.

He said: "They have beaten United, so of course it will be a tough challenge but we know we are the favourites.

"We don't want to wait for the second leg. We want to try to have the perfect result in the first one. Hopefully, we will reach that."