Why did Haaland and De Bruyne not play in the match between Manchester City and Aston Villa?

On April 3, the 31st round match of the English Premier League took place between Manchester City and Aston Villa. The game concluded with a score of 4-1 in favor of the citizens.

Phil Foden marked a hat-trick in this encounter.

Star footballers Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City spent the entire match on the substitutes' bench.

Following the conclusion of the encounter, the head coach of the citizens, Pep Guardiola, elucidated why Erling and Kevin were not fielded:

"Rest for Haaland and De Bruyne? They could play and rest other players. We put the players out to win it, not just to rest players. We need fresh legs, and we only played three days ago against Arsenal. We needed it because of the schedule, so we needed the rest," - BBC quoted Guardiola's words.

Currently, Manchester City holds the third position in the Premier League table. The team has 67 points after 30 rounds. The same goes for Liverpool, who hold the second position but have played one fewer round. Arsenal currently leads with 68 points.