Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has suggested Manchester City will have benefitted from being able to rest several of their first-team stars in the win over Leicester at the weekend.
Pep Guardiola's side secured a comfortable 3-1 victory over the Foxes on Saturday, with John Stones and Erling Haaland (2) scoring for the Blues. Having scored twice against Leicester, Haaland has now registered 47 goals and six assists in all competitions this term, including 32 in the Premier League.
The Norwegian ace was substituted at half-time and replaced by World Cup winner Julian Alvarez - meaning he was unable to even attempt to grab his fourth league hat-trick of the season. It was the second game in a row where Haaland was taken off after scoring two goals.
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City failed to score again after the interval, but Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Grealish were all taken off before the full-time whistle. Meanwhile, Nathan Ake and Ilkay Gundogan remained as unused substitutes, with the pair having both played significant minutes in recent weeks.
Discussing the Blues' win over Leicester, Ferdinand praised Guardiola for giving his key players time to rest after essentially putting the tie to bed at half-time of the clash.
"The biggest thing to come out of that game was the amount of rest the top players got," Ferdinand said on Vibe with Five. "He substituted these guys at half-time... listen, Haaland's on a hat-trick, 'sub, come off'. It's crazy but they need to do it.
"They're in all the competitions, the treble is up for grabs. He's [Guardiola] got to be diligent about how he sets up his teams, making sure he gives players the most amount of rest he can. When they put themselves in those type of positions they did at the weekend, you've got to take full advantage of that and he's doing it."
When discussing Haaland being taken off while on a hat-trick, Ferdinand added: "Haaland's got to be thinking long-term, he's got to be thinking, 'there's three trophies up for grabs, I want to be as fresh as I can be'. Haaland, right now, expects to score in every game."
Guardiola's side can move within one point of league-leaders Arsenal if they win their game in hand. The two sides meet at the Etihad Stadium on April 26.
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