Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that Bernardo Silva remains a major injury concern ahead of Sunday’s Premier League showdown with Liverpool at Anfield.

Silva featured in City’s 3-1 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Newcastle, but his availability for the weekend remains uncertain.

Guardiola said: “Yesterday he said to me, ‘I feel quite good. I want to try’. But I don’t know.

“It’s in a position less dangerous than the hamstring, another type of muscle in the hamstring position. But we’ll see in the next few days.

“‘Could be OK’, is not the words. He’s an incredible doubt. He will try, I think so, knowing him, he will try. But right now, I don’t know…”

Meanwhile, Guardiola has urged the English Football League to reconsider its eligibility rules to allow Marc Guehi to feature in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal on 22 March at Wembley.

The England defender, who joined City from Crystal Palace after the first leg of the semi-final against Newcastle, was ruled ineligible under current competition regulations.

“Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup that Marc [Guehi] can play the final. I don’t understand why he cannot play the final,” Guardiola said.

“You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it.”

He also pointed to January signing Antoine Semenyo, who was eligible to play after arriving before the first semi-final leg.

“Antoine arrived before the first [game] so could play. And now it’s the final. Why should he [Guehi] not play? Why not? We pay his salary, he is our player,” Guardiola added.