Newport County Better Than Manchester City 'In Some Areas,' Says Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola isn't taking anything for granted in the build-up to Saturday's FA Cup fifth-round trip to Newport County and says the League Two outfit are better than his Manchester City side "in some areas."

There are concerns for the Premier League leaders regarding the state of the pitch at Rodney Parade, which could impede City's preference for a fast game. Guardiola swatted those concerns to one side, however, and added Newport's physical traits give them some advantages, via the Guardian:

The Catalan said: "We are going to suffer because they are taller and stronger than us, so in some areas they are better than us. We have to try to bring our game in a way that we're stronger than them."

TalkSport provided more from Guardiola's press conference on Friday, when the City chief referenced last season's surprise fifth-round exit to Wigan Athletic as a reminder to be vigilant against minnow opposition:

"They have done incredibly well in this competition. What they do they do really well. We have watched many games to see what they do.

"It is the cup. We know what happened last season at Wigan. Anything can happen. We will take this very seriously, I am sure about that."

Will Grigg scored the only goal for Wigan last year as the Latics shocked the bookmakers to advance ahead of top-flight titans City.

It would be an even greater upset if fourth-tier Newport were to get the better of their English opponents in south Wales, but talisman Padraig Amond has already faced off against one of City's defensive stars, per Copa90:

Amond has scored in each round of the Exiles' fairytale FA Cup run so far, including a penalty in their 2-1 third-round win against Leicester City and the 2-0 beating of Middlesbrough in the fourth stage.

The lowest-placed team remaining in this season's FA Cup will hope to upset another Premier League outfit come Saturday. League One sides AFC Wimbledon and Doncaster Rovers—who host Millwall and Crystal Palace, respectively, this weekend—are the next teams up in the English Football League after Newport.

ESPN FC's pundits discussed Saturday's David vs. Goliath meeting at Rodney Parade as "what the FA Cup is all about":

Guardiola has a grand opportunity to win four trophies this season. As well as the FA Cup, his side lead the Premier League, will face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final and are poised to take on Schalke in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.

Not one to underestimate his opponents, the City boss may even be fearful of Newport in some regards, eager to avoid the same mistakes perpetrated last season.