Pep Guardiola’s men comfortably won against their local rivals Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
A brilliant start from the visitors at Old Trafford gave them a 3-0 lead before halftime and rendered Rashford’s second half strike a mere consolation.
Richards believes playing in a rigid formation under head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer limits the ability of the England international despite Rashford being in the best scoring form of his life this season.
The 31-year-old insists Rashford would easily get 40 goals in a season playing in Manchester City’s pulsating attack under the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss.
“I feel a bit sorry for Rashford because if he was in City’s team he would get 40 goals a season,” Richards said.
“Obviously on the counter with Anthony Martial, Daniel James, and Jesse Lingard they look good.”
“Sometimes the counter-attack is not on.”
“Look at Man City’s midfield compared to United’s, that is no disrespect but Kevin De Bruyne’s first option is a forward pass.”
The 21-year-old has scored 17 goals and provided 5 assists in 29 games across all competitions for the Red Devils this season, averaging a goal every 135 minutes.
