Pep Guardiola has dismissed suggestions his sideâs Carabao Cup trip to Leicester this week could hand Liverpool an advantage in the title race.
Champions City are a point behind the Reds at the top of the Premier League after both sides won over the weekend.
Liverpool are now not in action until their next league game at Wolves on Friday night while City must travel to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday for a cup quarter-final.
Guardiola acknowledges the extra rest could benefit Jurgen Kloppâs side but his mentality will not allow him to ease up, particularly with another trophy in sight.
âWe could say yes,â said Guardiola, when asked if the schedule assisted the Merseysiders. âBut Iâd prefer to be in the Carabao Cup than not.
âI cannot imagine going into a game thinking, âOh, it will be better to lose because then weâll have more time to restâ. I have never thought in that way.
âWeâre going to prepare as always to win the game, to try to reach the semi-final and then weâd have two legs to try to reach another final.
âThat is the only way a club like Manchester City â who 10 years ago were not in this position â can grow up, and get better and better. And thatâs what we have to do.â
City, the Carabao Cup holders, welcomed back Kevin De Bruyne after six weeks on the sidelines against Everton on Saturday while Sergio Aguero was also on the bench after four games out.
The likes of David Silva and Benjamin Mendy remain sidelined, however, while Fernandinho, Danilo and John Stones have all had knocks recently, meaning options could be limited.
Guardiola said: âWe donât have many players. We have a lot of injured players. Some players that played Saturday and in the last games have to play.
âBut it is a chance to reach a semi-final and since Iâve been here my teams have never dropped one game, not even a friendly game. It is a competition, it must be respected, like we did it last season. We are going to try and win the game.â
Further progress in the competition would add a two-legged semi-final to Cityâs January schedule but Guardiola accepts fixture congestion as a consequence of success.
He said: âWeâre going to play the games until the end. If it happens it happens, if it doesnât it doesnât. If we arrive in February, March or April exhausted, unlucky. But what can we do?â