Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists he always takes Cup competitions seriously.

City meet Burton Albion in the first-leg of tonight's Carabao Cup semifinal.

"I prefer it to be in the four competitions as far as possible," Guardiola said. "When Wigan put us out of the FA Cup last season, I was sad. I take the cups seriously."

Guardiola believes City can handle all four competitions providing he rotates his side carefully. Jurgen Klopp attempted a similar trick on Monday night but suffered defeat at Wolves, which leaves Liverpool with a lighter load. The Premier League champions could end up playing eight more domestic matches than Liverpool should they reach the Carabao Cup and FA Cup finals.

"I'm not involved in what my opponents do," Guardiola said. "The reality for Jurgen is he knows exactly what happened.

"I'm not the right person to judge what the others do because I don't like it when others judge our decisions.

"You cannot survive in any league in the world fighting for the title with just 12 or 13 players. It's impossible. You need a bigger squad and every player has to be a top player.

"Since I arrived we've played Manchester United with a lot of young players (in the 2016 League Cup). It was the same the second season, the same the third season, that's what happened.

"Against Rotherham we played with nine players who didn't play against Liverpool and the nine were a good selection."