Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has confirmed that James Trafford will be the starting goalkeeper in the upcoming Carabao Cup final against Arsenal. This announcement was made during his pre-Cup Final press conference.
Guardiola expressed his confidence in Trafford by stating, "For the team, it’s a big moment." When asked about Trafford's attitude towards this decision, he simply replied with an affirmative "Beyond [happy], yeah."
Trafford joined Manchester City with high expectations of being the first choice. However, after a few errors in his initial game, Guardiola signed Gianluigi Donnarumma who has since been their main keeper throughout the season. Despite this setback, Trafford has clocked 1,080 minutes on field which is comparable to Kepa Arrizabalaga from Arsenal who is expected to start and has played only 807 minutes himself.
Trusting understudies over regulars
Interestingly enough both managers are placing their trust in understudies rather than their regular league goalkeepers for this crucial match at Wembley. David Raya from Arsenal may not even be on bench due to personal reasons but it seems unlikely he would want to miss out should Arsenal win the final.
City’s defensive options are less than ideal heading into this match as they are set to be without two centre backs - Josko Gvardiol due to injury and Marc Guehi who is ineligible to feature in the competition for City.
However there is some good news as Rico Lewis returned after a five-game absence due to an ankle injury although it remains uncertain if he will be sufficiently match sharp for a cup final.
Resting key players
City’s poor performance during Tuesday's Champions League exit allowed them rest several key players. Already 3-0 down to Real Madrid from the first leg, City picked up a red card and went in at half time lucky to be only 4-1 behind on aggregate.
With the tie effectively over, Guardiola withdrew Ruben Dias and Tijjani Reijnders at half time. By the 56th minute, he also took off Erling Haaland and Matheus Nunes, followed by Rodri in the 74th minute. Despite this setback, Guardiola is confident about his team's focus for the upcoming final. About Haaland who has scored five goals in 18 games this season he said ahead of the weekend: “I’m pretty sure he’s focused, like all of us."
Neither Arsenal nor City are massively struggling with injuries going into Wembley. Mikel Merino will be missing for Arsenal on Sunday with doubts over Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber. However Eberechi Eze should be fit despite his knock on Tuesday and it is still possible that Odegaard and Timber will recover in time. The remainder of both squads will be available barring any issues in training which means that under best case scenario Merino would be the only absentee for Arsenal.
