The Carabao Cup semifinal first leg between Manchester United and Manchester City kicks off on Tuesday night at Old Trafford. The Red Devils will hope to overturn their recent form which included a 2-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates and a nil-nil draw versus Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round.
Manchester City go into the Carabao Cup semifinal first leg having defeated Port Vale at the weekend 4-1 in the FA Cup third round. The Cityzens are unbeaten in their last three matches in all competitions and will aim to keep their three-match win streak going.
These teams played in December in the Premier League with Manchester United recording a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium. One of the big questions going into the game is which Manchester United squad will show up for the Carabao Cup semifinal?
Manchester United injuries
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has 10 player-injury concerns going into the first leg on Tuesday night. Scott McTominay is ruled out of the fixture due to a knee injury. He won’t return to the team until February. Paul Pogba is also ruled out and is expected to have an operation on his foot keeping him out until the end of this month.
Solskjaer is sweating the fitness of first-team stars Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw. Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial are also struggling for full fitness. Their participation in the match will be a game-time decision for the manager to make.
Meanwhile, defenders Axel Tuanzebe, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Marcos Rojo, and Eric Bailly are ruled out of the semifinal.
Reports on Tuesday indicate Manchester United could be interested in finally moving on Pogba. It was reported that Real Madrid will offer Manchester United the choice of one of four players for the Frenchman. Toni Kroos, Isco, Gareth Bale, or Luka Modric.
Manchester City injuries
Pep Guardiola goes into the first leg of the cup semifinal with just two injured players. Those players are long-term absentees Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane. Guardiola should pick a strong squad to face Manchester United with Sergio Aguero possibly leading the attack.
Raheem Sterling could also feature and hope to break his duck in Manchester Derbies. Sterling has never scored against the Red Devils in 14 appearances.
Manchester City have won the last two Carabao Cup trophies and could make it a trio of consecutive League Cups this term. Four of the last six Carabao Cup trophies have gone to the blue side of Manchester. The Cityzens have won the competition six times and are two wins away from equalling Liverpool’s record of eight League Cup wins.
Manchester United last won the Carabao Cup in 2017 defeating Southampton 3-2.