Guardiola thought the opposition was weak. Or he didn't take this match seriously. He made the second row squad against Newcastle. Haaland was not in the squad. Also three very important players like Rodri, Silva and De Bruyne were absent from Manchester City due to injuries. And this opportunity has been used very well by Newcastle coach Eddie Howe. Guardiola should have been careful before building his squad against Eddie Howe.
Newcastle played very well in this match. The team lost points in several matches at the beginning of the Premier League. But Eddie Howe is slowly solving the problems within the squad. We have seen excellent performances from the team in each of Newcastle's last four matches. The players will be more confident after a win against a team like Manchester City. I think we will get a better performance than Newcastle in the upcoming matches.
I think Guardiola doesn't think his opponent is weak and Newcastle deserved to win against Manchester City, I just think Guardiola doesn't want the Carabao championship, so he didn't play Haaland in yesterday's match, I think Guardiola is more focused on the big EPL and UCL championships so he maintains stamina players to remain good to face their opponents and I think Manchester City don't play too seriously.
Even so, Newcastle still played well and I admit that they deserved to win that match, Manchester City after this defeat maybe they will focus more on maintaining the club's performance in the more important league and I'm sure Guardiola doesn't have big goals in this championship and give victory to Newcastle.
Maybe you are right. Guardiola has no interest in winning the EFL Cup. That's why he didn't give importance to this match. If the match was important to Guardiola, he would have included Haaland in his squad. But he rested Haaland in this match. Although I thought we would see Haaland in the squad after the second half.
However, their next few matches are crucial for Guardiola. That's why he rested Haaland. Manchester City have a busy schedule for the entire month of October. And they will play against renowned teams. City will play against Arsenal, Brighton and Manchester United in the Premier League in October. Three very tough opponents. And in Champions League matches they will play against Leipzig and Young Boys. Manchester City need to get full points in every match.