Manchester City get their Carabao Cup competition underway on Wednesday evening when they travel to St James’ Park to face last year’s finalists Newcastle United.
The Sky Blues have enjoyed a flawless start to the 2023/24 Premier League season, winning six out of six games. Despite going a man down early in the second half, they held onto a 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest in the league last weekend.
Pep Guardiola will want to continue the winning momentum and qualify for the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, but his team will need to go past a rejuvenated Newcastle, who walloped newly-promoted Sheffield United 8-0 at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
Manchester City Team News
Manchester City will definitely be without Rodri, who was sent off against Nottingham Forest. Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are both injured, while John Stones is unlikely to be back from his own injury problems. Mateo Kovacic is suffering from a back problem and is not expected to be available for the cup game against Newcastle.
After the game against Forest, Pep Guardiola claimed that he would rotate the squad heavily and look to give opportunities to the academy kids in the cup game.
Predicted Man City lineup vs Newcastle (4-1-4-1)
Goalkeeper
Ederson’s deputy, Stefan Ortega is set to assume the goalkeeping duties in midweek. He will want to keep a clean sheet on his first appearance of the season.
Defence
In defence, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker will likely be rested with Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis stepping into their shoes. Lewis will start at right-back, while Ake partners Manuel Akanji in central defence in the Man City lineup.
Meanwhile, Sergio Gomez should get the nod over Josko Gvardiol at left-back.
The City back four will need to be defensively at their best to keep a hungry Newcastle side at bay.
Midfield
Up ahead in midfield, we could see academy starlet Oscar Bobb make his first start of the season in the Man City lineup. The young Norwegian has enjoyed minutes in the Premier League and the Champions League this season, and the cup game against Newcastle could be the perfect chance to hand him a start.
Bobb could be joined by Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips in City’s engine room, with Matheus Nunes dropping to the bench.
When Rodri was sent off against Forest, Phillips came on as a substitute and did a good job of shielding the backline. We could see the Englishman operate as a destroyer behind Foden and Bobb at St James’ Park.
Attack
Erling Haaland is likely to get the night off, meaning Julian Alvarez should be pushed up top against the Magpies in the Man City lineup.
Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku should start on the left and right flank respectively and support Alvarez in attack.