In-form Manchester City host Brentford in the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup.
The Blues have won five games in a row in all competitions and have won this competition more times than any other team bar
Liverpool, whilst their opponents are playing in this stage of the competition for just the third time in their history.
City won the Carabao Cup four times in a row between 2018 and 2021, but haven’t won it since, crashing out last season to Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round.
This is the first time Pep Guardiola’s side have reached the quarter finals of this competition since 2022.
Here are five things to look out for as City face the Bees:
Savinho and Bobb out wide
Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference that this game is much less important than the West Ham United game in the Premier League on Saturday, and that he will take the chance to rotate his team.
This means we’re probably going to see Savinho and Oscar Bobb starting on the flanks, a combination that has provided mixed results so far this season.
Both players have had a handful of good performances each, but on the whole they’ve underwhelmed.
Savinho has been able to show why he deserved a new contract after City turned down a £70 million approach from Tottenham Hotspur for him this summer, and Bobb hasn’t shown anything like the promise he did before his leg break at the beginning of last season.
But tonight is a chance for both of them to shine and stake a claim for more minutes. And if they don’t, you can expect City’s pursuit of Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo to accelerate.
False nine football with no Marmoush
Omar Marmoush has officially joined up with the Egypt national team ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, whilst Rayan Ait-Nouri will also be absent for the next month or so to represent Algeria.
I doubt following his comments regarding resting first team players we’ll see Erling Haaland at least from the start tonight, so I expect Guardiola to throw it back to 2021 with a false nine system.
He could play Divine Mukasa there, but I think he’ll go for a more established player in Rayan Cherki or Phil Foden; as it is a cup quarter final after all.
Both players are technically gifted and thrive centrally, and have shown this season that they have an eye for goal particularly from the edge of the penalty area.
They’re perfectly moulded to play in that role for when Haaland needs a rest, and if things go pear shaped, the 25-year-old Norwegian can be brought on in the second half.
Rest for Nico Gonzalez
Along with Haaland, I expect Nico Gonzalez to finally be granted some rest.
Injuries to Rodri and Mateo Kovacic mean the Spaniard has needed to play every minute of every game, otherwise we see a drop off reminiscent of the performance in the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Nico provides physicality and intelligence that no-one other than Rodri provides, and without Kovacic there isn’t another player who even contributes to the defensive side particularly well in his absence.
The best solution to allowing a rest for Nico would be to play City’s strongest midfield without him, which for me would be Foden slightly ahead of a Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders double pivot.
It’s a change in shape from what we’ve seen recently but one that’ll provide protection to the midfield and allow one of City’s most important players this season a necessary rest.
Brentford going strong
For Keith Andrews’s side, however, it’s an opportunity for them to go on a run and potentially win their first ever major trophy as a club.
Seeing Crystal Palace win the FA Cup last season and Newcastle United win the Carabao must give teams confidence that they can go on successful runs all the way to lifting the trophy in the final.
This is the first chance ever Brentford can look at a big cup competition knowing there’s a decent chance they could win it, so I therefore expect the likes of Igor Thiago, Dango Outtara and Jordan Henderson to start at the Etihad.
Guardiola taking it seriously
It would be ludicrous to suggest that the greatest manager in the sport’s history wouldn’t be interested in trying to add yet another trophy to his cabinet when in the quarter final of even a so-called “lesser” competition such as the Carabao Cup.
City’s boss will definitely not make another 10 or 11 change haul, so a few of the players who performed well in the 3-0 win against Crystal Palace on Sunday should be set to retain their places.
The squad players are still talented footballers who should have enough to beat Brentford on paper, who despite exceeding expectations after losing star players Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa along with manager Thomas Frank aren’t in a great run of form at the moment.
It’ll be a big morale booster for many of the younger players to have won either no trophies or just the one Premier League at City if they can go on a run all the way to winning the Carabao Cup – and no-one will know that more than Guardiola.
