Man City tackle League Cup holders Liverpool

Manchester City return to action following the World Cup break with a League Cup quarterfinal at home to trophy holders Liverpool on Thursday.

The last encounter between the Premier League rivals in October led to several unsavoury incidents on and off the field.

Leading figures have since tried to dampen down the tensions that have surfaced in recent seasons when both clubs have been vying to be crowned champions of England.

Guardiola, asked if he had a message for the fans, also told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday: "Be supporters and support your team unconditionally in the good moments and bad moments."

City had 16 players away at the World Cup.

Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne played in a friendly against Girona last week but Rodri, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji have only been back in training a few days.

Those involved with England and Portugal, along with goalkeeper Ederson, were due to report back later, while Alvarez will not return to action until next week.

Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Gomez and Cole Palmer were not involved in the showpiece tournament.

"Step by step people come back. We are happy they are back, in general they played really well," Guardiola said.

"I have a feeling that the players in the World Cup are in a better condition than the players who were here. Sergio, Erling, Riyad, Cole, they missed a little bit.

"Tomorrow is important for players not at the World Cup to regain the rhythm."

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