HOW LIJNDERS IS HELPING PEP EMBRACE THE PRESSURE

PEP Guardiola has more energy this season.

- By SIMON BAJKOWSKI

City players have noticed it, staff have noticed it, and referees have certainly noticed it.

Today's match with Liverpool will be the third game of the season Guardiola has been unable to direct from the dugout after accruing six yellow cards across the Premier League and FA Cup.

And despite the manager angrily remarking he will take extra holiday if he is banned from being in the technical area, everybody knows that is not true; the Catalan will be as passionate as usual, just shouting his instructions down the phone at assistant Pep Lijnders instead.

As the No.2 joked after the same happened at West Ham last month, they were sure to charge up all devices before the game.

Everyone can see why Guardiola has extra fire in his belly, and there are two main theories behind this. The first is that the great manager knows he is leaving at the end of the season and so - like his biggest nemesis Jurgen Klopp - can throw more at this year because he knows there are endless vacations waiting beyond that. The second is that City’s manager is enthused by the biggest shakeup of the club since he arrived, with the squad transformed over the last 18 months and a complete overhaul of the backroom staff last summer.