Pep Guardiola demands little known rule is scrapped to help Man City in Carabao Cup final

Pep Guardiola is desperate to have Marc Guehi at his disposal for the Carabao Cup final – even though the defender is ineligible for the game.

City booked their place at Wembley with a comfortable 3-1 win at home to Newcastle on Wednesday night, winning the tie 5-1 on aggregate.

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They raced to a 3-0 lead inside the opening 32 minutes at the Etihad Stadium thanks to two goals by Omar Marmoush and Tijani Reijnders’ strike. Anthony Elanga scored a consolation goal in the second half.

Awaiting Guardiola’s men are Premier League leaders Arsenal, who sealed their place in the March 22 showpiece with a victory over Chelsea.

As things stand, £20million signing Guehi will only be able to watch the game from the stands due to a little-known rule.

Why Marc Guehi can’t play

Guehi is classed as cup tied for the final having played three matches in this season’s Carabao Cup for former club Crystal Palace.

But to complicate matters further, Antoine Semenyo is eligible for the final despite playing for Bournemouth in the cup earlier this season.

This is because Semenyo sealed his move to City before the first leg of their tie against Newcastle three weeks ago.

Semenyo incidentally scored in that game as City ran out 2-0 winners at St James’ Park.

Guehi didn’t join City until after the first leg, and that’s what has cost him.

An EFL rule, which was introduced this season, forbids players who sign for a club after the first leg of the semi-final tie to participate for their new club in the Carabao Cup having already represented their previous club in the competition in the same season.

Understand? Well, Guardiola can’t get his head around that rule and he’s vowed to fight Guehi’s corner in a bid to get the England international available against Arsenal.

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Pep demands rule change

On Guehi’s lack of availability, Guardiola told Sky Sports: “Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc can play the final of this competition.

“It’s difficult to understand. The club made a big investment to take one player. He belongs to us.

“I don’t understand why he cannot play in the final, honestly.

“We can write a letter and hopefully the Carabao Cup can understand that we’ve bought a player for a lot of money and he’s not allowed to play.

“I don’t understand why, hopefully they can change the rule so he can play.”

City are bidding for their ninth League Cup title and fifth under Guardiola’s tutelage.

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Their first triumph under Guardiola was his first piece of silverware at the club during the 2017/18 season.

They incidentally beat Arsenal in the final, City securing a dominant 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.