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Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola will address the media this afternoon ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final vs Southampton at Wembley
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola will address the media ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final vs Southampton(Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Pep Guardiola will speak to the media today ahead of Manchester City's FA Cup semi-final against Southampton at Wembley Stadium.
Saturday will mark City's 31st trip to the new Wembley for cup matches, less than five weeks after their last visit for the Carabao Cup final. While the Blues take a break from the title race, Guardiola is likely to be asked about the Premier League run-in and how it may impact City's preparations for this game.
City could be without Rodri this weekend. The midfielder picked up an injury against Arsenal and missed the win at Burnley on Wednesday night.
On Tuesday, Guardiola said Rodri could be back for Southampton or the May 4 trip to Everton in the Premier League. City may also receive an update on Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol's fitness.
Follow Guardiola's press conference below...
Today09:52 BST
Why Wembley is losing its shine for City fans
For a lot of English football fans, Wembley Stadium is their Mecca. Supporters in their thousands make the pilgrimage to the national stadium to see their side compete in cup finals. Or, in the case of Manchester City, Southampton, Chelsea and Leeds this weekend, for the FA Cup semi-finals. But while Championship club Southampton sold out their initial allocation of 33,350, and have now received a further 2,400 tickets for the big game, the uptake among City fans has been slow. Part of the extra 2,400 tickets for Saints fans has come from City's unsold allocation, with supporters citing a range of reasons.
"Our take-up is half from the final last month," secretary of the Castleton branch of the City supporters' club, David Sigworth, told MEN Sport. "That’s a fact. The reasons for that is a) we have been to a final and b) without being too arrogant, we probably have another final to pay for in May.
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Manchester City make their regular trip to Wembley Stadium this weekend when they take on Southampton in the FA Cup semi-finals(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Today09:52 BST
When will we hear from Guardiola?
Guardiola is set to speak to the media at the later time of 2pm this afternoon. We will bring you everything he has to say as soon as the press conference begins.
(Image: Getty)
Today09:52 BST
Hello!
Good morning and welcome to Guardiola's press conference blog. It is another trip down to Wembley this weekend for City and while the gloss is starting to rub off the national stadium, there is plenty of desire to reach another FA Cup final. The clash with Southampton marks a distraction from the Premier League title race but City will be taking the game seriously.
Rodri missed the trip to Burnley after picking up an injury against Arsenal. He could be back for tomorrow's semi-final but Guardiola should confirm more later. Elsewhere, Dias is a major doubt while Gvardiol won't be available. Expect Guardiola to also be asked about Arsenal and the title race when he sits down this afternoon.
Stay tuned for updates...
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