Leicester vs. Manchester City: Pep Guardiola's Key Pre-Match Presser Quotes

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed he would field a team comprised solely of midfielders if he could and confirmed Raheem Sterling is in contention to face Leicester City on Saturday.

Per the Sky Blues' official Twitter feed, the former Barcelona boss said as much while discussing Pablo Zabaleta's future, with Guardiola anticipating a move into midfield in the twilight years of his career:

Per Ciaran Kelly of the Manchester Evening News, he added: "The midfield players have the quality to understand the game. Normally the defender is focusing on defend and the striker to score the goals. We have a lot here. It’s not a big problem."

Guardiola's love of the position hardly comes as a surprise. A former midfielder himself, he has always valued possession and technical skills in all of his players regardless of their position, even goalkeepers—hence his recruitment of Claudio Bravo to replace Joe Hart.

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Zabaleta will turn 32 in January, and while he is not a natural midfielder, many of the skills he's developed will be transferable given the demands on modern full-backs to be equally capable of attacking and defending.

As for Yaya Toure, the Ivorian looks to have salvaged his career at the Etihad Stadium after he was dropped from the team amid a row between Guardiola and his agent.

Guardiola also opened up on City's youth prospects and pledged to give them the opportunity to show themselves when they're ready, per Kelly: "There are [sic] a lot of quality from some of them; it’s not easy to play in the big teams to fight to win the Premier League, to be involved in the first team but they have to know we’re there. ... When they are able we will give our hands to show their talents."

City's investment in their academy in recent years would suggest they aim to replicate Barcelona's success in developing world-class talent in-house, and it's of little coincidence they also recruited Guardiola himself.

However, while the 45-year-old will likely be given plenty of time to help develop that, he's also under pressure for results in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League now, and it's difficult to bed in young players while achieving that.

He did show willingness to try them out in cup competitions, though, handing Aleix Garcia and Pablo Maffeo run-outs in City's EFL Cup match with Manchester United—he may do the same in the FA Cup.

Ahead of Saturday's trip to Leicester, Guardiola gave the latest on his players' fitness:

The Spaniard also praised City's upcoming opponents and believes they will turn around their poor form:

Per Kelly, Guardiola is confident they will benefit without the distraction of the UEFA Champions League in the coming weeks:

"

Maybe the players were so focused on the Champions League—it was the first experience of their lives, travelling and the music. Sometimes, maybe you are not so focused on the Premier League.

Now they are already qualified, they have two months to focus on the Premier League.

"

In stark contrast to their title-winning form last season, Leicester find themselves just two points above the drop having failed to win in five league games.

The Foxes are undoubtedly missing N'Golo Kante's tireless presence in the centre—the Frenchman was everywhere last year, covering incredible amounts of ground as he tackled, intercepted and broke down the opponents' play.

Further, the likes of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez haven't come close to replicating the form they displayed in the final third last season.

City's performances have been somewhat inconsistent in recent weeks, and a poor performance at the King Power Stadium could see them struggle, particularly as they will be without Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho.

Nevertheless, they'll be firm favourites against the struggling champions and should come away with a win.