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Antoine Semenyo out of Man City squad as Pep Guardiola explains FA Cup selection | Football
Antoine Semenyo has been left out of Manchester City’s FA Cup semi-final game against Southampton on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola has made eight changes to his starting line-up following the 1-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.
Only Rayan Cherki, Matheus Nunes and Rayan Ait-Nouri have kept their places in the team for the semi-final at Wembley, with Guardiola concerned about his side’s energy levels due to their congested fixture schedule.
Erling Haaland, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marc Guehi and Bernardo Silva are among the players who drop to the bench.
Meanwhile, Semenyo has been left out of City’s squad for a domestic game for the first time since his £64 million move from Bournemouth in the January transfer window.
Speaking to the BBC about his team selection before kick-off, Guardiola said: ‘I have a lot of experience, at this stage when you play every three days, travelling. I felt an incredible loss of energy, mentally fatigued.
Man City vs Southampton confirmed line-ups
Man City: Trafford, Nunes, Stones, Ake, Ait-Nouri, Nico, Kovacic, Reijnders, Cherki, Foden, Marmoush
Subs: Donnarumma, Haaland, Doku, Guehi, Silva, Savinho, O’Reilly, Khusanov, Lewis
Southampton: Peretz, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Welington, Jander, Bragg, Fellows, Azaz, Scienza, Stewart
Subs: Long, Quarshie, Jelert, Charles, Matsuki, Robinson, Edozie, Archer, Larin
‘The selection is top, the players are top. It’s just I want to bring the energy we need to sustain our game as high as possible.’
In a separate interview with TNT Sports, Guardiola reiterated that he wanted more energy from his side at Wembley.
‘It’s not a gift, I told them it’s not because I want to make a turnover at this stage of the season, it’s just in the past when you play a run of three games, Arsenal, so demanding, three days later, so demanding, and travel to London, we need energy,’ Guardiola said.
‘We need rhythm, sometimes we play semi-final, Champions League quarter-finals, coming here, we’re so flat.
‘If it works it will be a good decision, if not [it won’t be].’
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