Klopp's taunt that infuriated Guardiola will be a fiery duel in the Carabao Cup

The Qatar 2022 World Cup came to an end on Sunday with the crowning of Argentina, world champions for the third time in their history (1978, 1986, 2022), in this case after beating France on penalties (4-2 after a 3-3 draw). But football doesn't stop, the big leagues and cups are back. And in England, the last 16 of the Carabao Cup on Thursday offers nothing less than another duel between Pep Guardiola's Manchester City and Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola said on Saturday that, due to the participation of many of his players in the World Cup (including Julian Alvarez, world champion with Argentina on Sunday), "we don't have enough players to play against Liverpool, but the great brains of football decided this schedule and we will play the game.

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The 'Citizen' internationals are gradually returning, the last ones, before Julian Alvarez, will be those of England and Portugal. For Klopp, very bad news during the break was that his winger Luis Diaz re-injured himself and will be out until March. The Liverpool boss will wait to see if any of his World Cup players can feature against City.

Reds defender Ibrahima Konaté lost Sunday's final with France to Argentina on penalties (4-2 after a 3-3 draw). City and Liverpool have already met twice this season, with the Reds winning both times: 3-1 in the Community Shield and 1-0 in the Premier League.

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But the truth is that Guardiola's side are in second place in the Premier League and Klopp's side are sixth, 10 points behind the Citizens. Despite how difficult this season has been for Liverpool in the Premier League, a cup tie, such as this Carabao Cup round of 16, is always different.