Manchester City meet reigning Carabao Cup champions, Newcastle United in the second leg of their semi-final.
With a 2-0 aggregate lead from the first leg, Man City simply need to avoid defeat to secure their place in the final.
Newcastle meanwhile must win by at least a three-goal margin to stand any chance of defending their title in the final, although a victory by a two-goal margin would send the tie to penalties.
Team News
Rayan Cherki is a doubt for Man City after he suffered a knock in their 2-2 Premier League draw at Tottenham.
Ruben Dias (hamstring) is back training but unlikely to feature, whilst Marc Guehi is ineligible due to having not been registered in time for the first leg.
Jeremy Doku (muscle), Josko Gvardiol (leg), John Stones (thigh), Mateo Kovacic (foot) and Savinho (calf) remain sidelined.
Newcastle could welcome Sven Botman back from a thigh injury which kept him out of their 4-1 Premier League loss at Liverpool.
Lewis Miley is unlikely to be involved after he was an unused substitute at Anfield due to a knee injury.
Bruno Guimaraes (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee), Joelinton (groin), Tino Livramento (hamstring) and Fabian Schar (ankle) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Man City host Newcastle at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday 4 February at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Football in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Man City have avoided defeat in five of their seven previous meetings against Newcastle in this competition (W4, D1, L2).
- Newcastle are yet to lose at Man City in this competition (W1, D1), having drawn 1-1 in November 1994 then won 2-0 in October 2014.
- Four of City’s last five meetings against Newcastle in this competition have been settled by 2-0 results; of which City won three of those specific games to Newcastle’s one, whilst Newcastle claimed a 1-0 home win in September 2023.
- Man City have scored nine goals and conceded once in this season’s Carabao Cup (W4), of which three of their four wins were by 2-0 results whilst they won 3-1 at Swansea in the Fourth Round.
- Excluding two appearances in the Final and penalty shootouts, Newcastle are unbeaten in their last six Carabao Cup away games against Premier League opposition (W3, D3), since a 4-0 defeat at Tottenham in December 2014.
Prediction
Having produced a clinical opener at Tottenham early on, Man City really should of kicked on to keep building confidence and momentum yet they treated it like a dead rubber despite scoring again before half time, which bit them on their backsides as Spurs looked the more solid in their second-half fightback.
Newcastle meanwhile will be disappointed with how they defensively imploded at Liverpool after taking the lead but they can take heart from their first-half display, as they now need to score first and just kick on with a clean sheet if want to turn their aggregate deficit around.
Man City’s Etihad Stadium though hasn’t exactly exactly been the brightest hunting ground for Newcastle and given City’s attacking form, I just can’t see the Magpies’ title defence continuing.
Prediction: Man City 2-1 Newcastle
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