FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v West Ham United - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 4, 2025 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
(Reuters) - Winning three straight games would not usually be considered much of an achievement for Manchester City, but manager Pep Guardiola is now keenly eyeing that milestone in Saturday's FA Cup tie with Salford City after his side's drastic recent slump.
City inexplicably imploded in the lead-up to Christmas, winning once in 13 matches in all competitions, before arresting the slide with back-to-back Premier League wins over Leicester City and West Ham United.
The last time Premier League champions City won three straight games was in October, when a run of five victories was halted by a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Spaniard said a third consecutive win, albeit at home against fourth-tier Salford, would be a big morale boost for his side, who sit sixth in the Premier League standings.
"Well, I've lived in Salford for the last eight years. So we will play against my own neighbourhood, not hometown but it's my home, it's my town," Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
"A lot of respect for their manager (Karl Robinson), in the last six games, six victories, so huge respect for what they do... and hopefully we can do a good game and make a third victory in a row. (It has been) a long time this has not happened."
Club greats from City's rivals Manchester United, Gary and Phil Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt, are all part-owners of Salford.
Asked if he will be interested in owning a club in the future, Guardiola said: "I'm not good at that. I'm sometimes a good manager, but as a businessman I'm not good.
"The generation of players (that own Salford) won a lot of titles and made a lot of money. But they are (also) smart people.
"I'm pretty sure of that and when the people from football run football clubs, always they take smart decisions."
Guardiola confirmed defenders Ruben Dias and John Stones and midfielder Oscar Bobb are not ready to feature against Salford, but goalkeeper Ederson might play on Saturday.
“Dias feels better but not ready. I don’t know when he will be. Oscar is training with the team partially. It was a fractured bone. Ederson is fine but John Stones is not."
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
