City travel to Merseyside on Sunday 8 February looking to build on reaching the Carabao Cup final in midweek and come into the tie six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.
The Blues beat Newcastle 3-1 on Wednesday night to progress to Wembley for the 22nd time in Guardiola’s tenure, putting on an impressive performance to recover from a frustrating 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday.
Another difficult assignment beckons this weekend, with City’s last Anfield victory coming back in February 2021, but Guardiola feels the game is the perfect opportunity for his squad to prove ourselves on the big stage.
He said: “I have an idea on the line-up and try to see how they played lately, what we have to do, adjust some things, but it’s not just Anfield, all big stages and big games always need big personalities.
“I’ve said many times it’s not about the skills of the players in the first division and Premier League and the big leagues.
“In the top clubs, the skills are there. Not one player is not good enough to play in the big clubs, it’s how you behave, not play good or bad, how you are as a player.
“Do it in big stadiums at home and in the latter stages of the competitions in European competition that define the good players, that much you have, which define the good teams.”
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Guardiola also admitted his team need time to reach our full potential but is impressed by the progress we’ve made in 2025/26.
City are still in all four competitions heading into the business end of the season, with the Champions League knockout stages beckoning, as well as a Carabao Cup final and FA Cup fourth round tie also on the horizon.
It could be an exciting end to the campaign, but while Pep feels his side have grown significantly since last season, he feels we’re still not the finished article.
“Not yet. At top, top level, high, high level? No,” he said.
“We have moments, real moments, not enough consistency to be there, but we still are there. So, 14 games in the Premier League is an eternity, from my experience it’s a lot and everything can happen.
“In the other position we are better than last season. Last season we finished 23rd in the Champions League and we are now eighth. Last season, Carabao Cup first round, now we’re in the final. FA Cup, we are still there.
“Last season in the Premier League we were miles away from Liverpool, so we’ll see what happens until the end.
“I said against Spurs we had three players for the whole generation, it was three players. And the other ones, even Gigio has experience and even their players have experience, there are a lot of things we speak about.
“They are new, new, new, new to the Premier League, a new stages.
“I’d love to make one two meeting and everything click. No, sometimes you need more time.”
Celebrate Lunar New Year at City v Fulham!
As our closest home Premier League game to Lunar New Year, we’ll have plenty of celebrations as City welcome Fulham to the Etihad Stadium.
Kick-off is at 19:30 (UK) but there’ll be lots to see and enjoy before the action gets under way on the evening.
Tickets for this game are now on general sale, starting at £30 for adults and £15 for Under 18s. You can get three per person here!
And if you choose to make it a special evening in one of our hospitality areas, there’ll be even more to enjoy on top of elite football on the pitch!
Prices start from £180, while there’s an offer available when booking in the Legends Lounge or a Platinum Box experience - contact the sales team or enter the code Fulham%20 at checkout to access.
