Guardiola guards against complacency after Man City's superb start

BeSoccer 1 year ago 1.6k
City are the only Premier League team with a 100 percent record. AFP

Pep Guardiola said Friday he was not getting carried away with Manchester City's perfect start to the season, warning it was "just the beginning".

The defending champions have won all five games so far in the Premier League and are the only team with a 100 percent record.

They also clinched the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla on penalties and made a winning start to their Champions League campaign, with a 3-1 win over Red Star Belgrade in midweek.

But Guardiola said he was keeping his feet on the ground despite the flying start, pointing to his first season in charge at the Etihad Stadium in 2016/17.

"When we arrived here seven or eight years ago we made six from six [at the start of the season] and we finished third. It's just the beginning," Guardiola said.

England winger Jack Grealish could return for Saturday's home game against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Grealish has missed the treble winners' past three games with a knee injury and was also unavailable for international duty earlier this month.

The 28-year-old is now back in training, easing Guardiola's injury concerns after Bernardo Silva this week joined a casualty list that also includes Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Mateo Kovacic.

"We need the injured players back because we have a lot of games and we cannot play with the same players," said the City boss.

"Jack is coming back. He has trained well and maybe he will be ready for some minutes. Kova is almost there, he's in the last part of the recovery but now we've lost Bernardo. John and Kevin are still out."

Mentioned in the news story

Premier League
Manchester City