Pep Guardiola gives his Sheffield United verdict as Man City prepare for 'tough' assignment

Man City boss Pep Guardiola will be setting his team up for another difficult encounter with Sheffield United on Saturday, not least because of the return of Chris Wilder.

While City have had the better of the results against the Blades, at no point has it been made easy for the serial trophy winners and Guardiola is expecting another challenge for his side at the Etihad.

United gave City a game at Bramall Lane earlier in the season when it took a goal from Rodri in the dying minutes to secure all three points after Jayden Bogle had chancelled out Erling Haaland's opener. The addition of Wilder into the mix adds another element of difficulty according to Guardiola.

"Against a team with Chris Wilder, what it was in the past were a few problems against Sheffield," he said ahead of Saturday's clash. "We win by a little, little margin in the past. I saw their games and it will be so, so tough. They defend so, so deep and play long balls to McBurnie and the other ones. What they do they do really well. We try to be focused on what we have to do. Don't make mistakes.

Guardiola added: "In our last games at home we couldn't get the results we wanted so we will try to refocus on what we do. My experience against Chris [Wilder] was always really difficult."