LONDON • Pep Guardiola has shut down talk of a potential quadruple this season, insisting his only focus now is today's Premier League clash against West Bromwich Albion.
City will face Tottenham in the League Cup final and second-tier Swansea in the FA Cup fifth round following Sunday's 3-1 win over fourth-tier Cheltenham. They are also in the last 16 of the Champions League, where they will meet Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach.
With City on a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions, winning their last 10, Guardiola was asked if they can challenge on all four fronts, reported Sports Illustrated.
The City manager replied: "Do you know what the target is? The target is Big Sam, West Bromwich. This is our target. The other is fairy tale, mysteries, that 99.9 per cent has never been accomplished. My advice: Don't ask these kind of questions. It's unrealistic."
City are second in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Manchester United with a game in hand, and can go top with a win over Sam Allardyce's 19th-placed side. But they will be without their talismanic midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, who has been ruled out for between four and six weeks owing to a hamstring injury.
"You have to know that I'm going to miss Kevin a lot and we're going to miss him a lot, he's almost irreplaceable with the qualities that he has," Guardiola said. "He was nominated as the best in the Premier League last season so we know how good he is. But at the same time, when you want to win important titles, you need something that is irreplaceable too and that is the charisma and commitment that the team can have."
Since his arrival at City in 2015, de Bruyne has won 116 of his 168 Premier League appearances, losing 24. Without the Belgian, their win rate drops from 69.05 per cent to 63.8 per cent, reported the Manchester Evening News.
But City are still expected to get their 12th league win of the season, with Allardyce hinting to reporters yesterday that he is looking at upcoming fixtures against fellow strugglers Fulham (18th) and Sheffield United (20th).
"If Man City beat us, it wouldn't be a shock. When it comes to Fulham and Sheffield United, it is a big focus for us," he said.
WEST BROM V MAN CITY
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