Pep Guardiola hails Man City star 'incredibly lucky' to have after Liverpool cup win

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are "incredibly lucky" to have Rico Lewis after the teenager's performance against Liverpool in the League Cup. The Sky Blues emerged 3-2 winners when they encountered the young right-back, one of their most notable stars.

Lewis was making just his third senior start for the club but played an important role as City progressed to the last eight of the Carabao Cup. Goals from Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez and Nathan Ake were enough to overcome strikes from Fabio Carvalho and Mohamed Salah.

Guardiola praised the young Englishman after the game, suggesting the club are 'incredibly lucky' to have him and that he can be in the squad for the next 10 years.

"For a long, long time. I haven't seen a performance like Rico Lewis," he told Sky Sports. "At 18 he played against Liverpool with the biggest stars up front and the way he plays with and without the ball.

"We were lucky. We were incredibly lucky to have this player for the next decade. I hope the club can welcome him because he was exceptional. The game he played was exceptional ."

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Guardiola wasn't the only one impressed with the 18-year-old's performance with Micah Richards also singing his praises in the Sky Sports studio post-match, suggesting the youngster could become a 'superstar' .

"He [Lewis] was brilliant," he said. "It was more the positions he took, the way he pressed higher, the way he got on the ball. His decision-making was outstanding. When to leave and when to put down.

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"He's going to be a superstar and I rarely put that pressure on players because I don't think it's right. Then if you don't get to the level everyone says they're overrated, but he's a special player what we see today."

The Sky Blues will face Southampton for a place in the League Cup last four as they bid to lift the trophy for the fifth time in six years.