For most teams in the Premier League in England, they have a little rest between their last game and their next game in the FA Cup Third Round over the forthcoming weekend. However, for Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham, plus Championship side Brentford, there is no option to rest as all four teams will contest this week’s Carabao Cup Semifinal ties.
Due to the shortened season, these semifinals are to be played over one leg with extra time and penalties used to decide the winner if required. In addition, the final has been moved to April from February in the hope more fans will be able to attend by then. Tottenham and Brentford kick off the action tonight in a London derby game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but it is the big derby game in Manchester on Wednesday night that we are going to focus on here.
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Let’s now take a look more closely at Wednesday evening’s game in the Carabao Cup semifinal between the two Manchester teams by taking a look at how they have performed in the competition this season, the latest team news we have for both teams, what our predictions for each team is and of course, how we think the game will go in terms of the best bets to make on it.
Carabao Cup Semifinal
Wednesday 6th January – Manchester United v Manchester City
Both Manchester sides started their campaigns in a later round of this year’s Carabao Cup competition due to qualifying for European competition, which meant them receiving a bye through to the Third Round of the tournament. Since then, both have made relatively untroubled progress through to the semifinal.
The match is a repeat of last year’s semifinal between the two teams, which was won by Manchester City on aggregate after winning 3-1 at Old Trafford but then losing 1-0 on home soil in the return leg. City went on to lift the cup for the third year in a row and for the fifth time in seven years.
The teams have met recently, playing out a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in the Premier League not long before Christmas in what was a very poor game. Viewers watching on will be hoping that Wednesday evening’s game offers a bit more in the way of excitement.
How they reached this stage of the competition
Manchester United
- Second Round – Bye
- Third Round – Luton Town 0-3 Manchester United (Mata, Rashford, Greenwood)
- Fourth Round – Brighton 0-3 Manchester United (McTominay, Mata, Pogba)
- Quarterfinals – Everton 0-2 Manchester United (Cavani, Martial)
Manchester City
- Second Round – Bye
- Third Round – Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth (Delap, Foden)
- Fourth Round – Burnley 0-3 Manchester City (Sterling 2, Torres)
- Quarterfinals – Arsenal 1-4 Manchester City (Jesus, Mahrez, Foden, Laporte)
Football League Cup (Carabao Cup) Wins & Finals Appearances
- Manchester United – 5x winners (1992, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2017) 4x Runners Up (1983, 1991, 1994, 2003)
- Manchester City – 7x winners (1970, 1976, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020) 1x Runners Up (1974)
Manchester United v Manchester City head-to-head
Since their first meeting in 1891, Manchester City and Manchester United have met a total of 183 times in their history. United hold the upper hand historically with 76 victories over that time, with Manchester City winning 54 games and a total of 53 being drawn between the two rivals.
Recent clashes between the two have been somewhat evenly contested. Of the last 16 games between the two teams in all competitions. City have won six, United have won seven and there have been just three draws.
The teams have met in two League Cup semifinals previously, Manchester City running out 3-2 winners over two legs last season, but in January 2010 it was Manchester United who went through 4-3 on aggregate.
Manchester United Team News
Dean Henderson will likely get the nod in goal once again in the Carabao Cup ahead of David DeGea for this game but other than that, I can’t see Manchester United making too many changes for this game after their 2-1 win over Aston Villa at the weekend. Mason Greenwood could come in for Pogba, dropping Fernandes into a slightly deeper role, but I think the Frenchman may get the nod here after a decent display against Villa.
- Possible Man Utd XI (4-3-3) – Henderson, Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Bailly, Maguire, Fred, McTominay, Pogba, Rashford, Fernandes, Martial.
Manchester City Team News
Pep Guardiola’s squad has been hit by the virus this past week so who he has available is not yet 100% certain but after a stunning away win at Chelsea at the weekend, it is hard to see the Spaniard making too many changes to that team for this short trip across Manchester to face their rivals. Zack Steffen will continue in goal while Ederson remains out. Sergio Aguero is likely only fit enough to start from the bench once again.
- Possible Man City XI (4-3-3) – Steffen, Cancelo, Zinchenko, Dias, Stones, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Silva.B, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling
Manchester United v Manchester City – Tips
The last game between these two teams was an unusually drab affair and ended in a rare 0-0 draw. Both managers seemed a little afraid to lose that game, but with tonight’s game being win or bust, I am expecting a more adventurous game.
Both teams have scored plenty of goals in recent weeks and this fixture has tended to produce goals for both teams. While the last three have seen just one team scoring, five of the previous six before that saw both teams find the net and I’d be surprised if that doesn’t happen again tonight.
One thing to note here is that both these teams record on the road has been better in this fixture in recent years. Manchester United’s home win back in March 2020 was the first home win in this fixture since City’s home win in November 2018. Eight of the last thirteen between the teams have seen the away team come out on top.
Both sides are in great form and it has been a while since both tasted defeat domestically, but I just feel that City’s extra quality in attack may prove to be the difference here, although I think it may take extra time for that to bear fruit.
Tips
- Full Time Result – Draw – 14/5
- Correct Score – 1-1 – 13/2
- Man City to Qualify – 8/15
*All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport as of 8.45am on Tuesday 5th January 2020.
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