Justoutside Manchester United v Manchester City Caraboa Cup Semi Final Wednesday 6th January 21 KO 7.45pm GMT - Preview and MDT | Vital Football

Justoutside Manchester United v Manchester City Caraboa Cup Semi Final Wednesday 6th January 21 KO 7.45pm GMT - Preview and MDT

Buzz Lightyear

Alert Team
Colin Bell MBE 1946-2021
We send condolences to the family of Colin Bell who died on the eve of this match aged just 74, a true legend and a privilege to all those who saw him play.
Also condolences for the late Tommy Docherty who sadly died recently a true character in the game we all love.
City will once again be depleted in this year semi-final of the Carabao Cup due to several players and staff who have tested positive for Covid-19. I will take this opportunity to wish them well and hope that the self-isolation is all that is necessary for their recovery.
I truly hope that it is not windy on Wednesday night especially in the City penalty areas of both halves of this game as the JoMU players seem to be strongly affected in these areas and fall over at the slightest breeze, strange as it does not happen in any other parts of the pitch and only in the oppositions penalty area, I was going to say it is a good job we have VAR in operation but having seen the incident in the Villa match I have my doubts as to its veracity.
It is a one-off game and if the scores are level at the end of extra time (I doubt this will be the case though) the match will be decided on penalties (it should be noted that if AFT is the referee and I have not looked yet- any United player kicking the ball and hitting it wide then falls over and pretends to be hurt, will be allowed to retake the kick nb. it only applied to the home side) Oh and it's on the Telly(sky - subscription needed in the UK), which means another game with the mute button on.
City Team News
Difficult to say really as when we played Chelsea to more cases were found but with fingers crossed we should have roughly the same squad as turned up and I mean turned up at Stamford Bridge.

Pep Guardiola Preview
“If you want to compete in all competitions you need a full squad, but we have a second team (EDS) that have been training with us for a month.

“We know them quite well and I am pretty sure they can help us. They can help us to solve the problems but with this amount of games with 15 players it will be more difficult.”

(Courtesy of the OS United v City: Carabao Cup semi-final match preview (mancity.com) )

Beat the Pep
Steffen
Cancelo Stones, Dias Zinchenko
De Bruyne, Gundogan, Rodri, Foden, Mahrez, Sterling.


MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Martin Atkinson (just as bad as AFT remember the 7 min extra)
Assistants: Harry Lennard and Nick Hopton
Fourth Official: David Coote
VAR: Jonathan Moss
Assistant VAR: Lee Betts

NEXT, It is the FA Cup
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Sun 10 Jan FA Cup 13:30 GMT

Manchester City
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v Birmingham City
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apparently, you can watch it on BBCi player ((UK only) if you have a TV licence that is.)
 
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5 Subs can be used in this game up to 90, however if the game goes to extra time a player can be subbed in order to use up the 5 if the allocation has not already been taken up within the 90 mins.
 
Steffen,
Cancelo, Stones, Dias, Blue Mendy,
Fernandinho, Rodri, De Bruyne,
Mahrez, Sterling, Foden
 
My worry is that he might just play a couple of the EDS squad, but, now the final is in April it does not cause too much of a fixture pile up and I think Pep should play his best team especially and with all disrespect to Birmingham who are next up after this
 
I hope if he picks his favourite Mahrez that he works as hard as Foden always does in his defensive duties and is less selfish in the opposition penalty area....
 
Apparently the players will wear special retro shirts in honour of Colin Bell tonight before kick off.

Let us not forget that it was in a league cup match in 1975 that Bell’s career was effectively ended after a tackle by Martin Buchan. Pulling off a win tonight could be no better way to mark Colin’s passing.
 
I think Pep will be more likely to go for this result in the cup. If so, we will need the same energy and pressing we saw on Sunday. KDB led that so effectively from the front whoever takes that role needs to follow his example. The defensive work of Foden especially also needs to be replicated. We cannot afford a ‘Toure-esque faux-defending, vague and half-hearted closing down‘ style performance from Mahrez should he be selected.
 
I understand that Walker and Jesus may be available for this match, but whether they have trained or not is unkown.

Walker certainly put in a session of training, not sure about Jesus - spot on the bench for one or both at best, I reckon.

Also read elsewhere Bernardo is suspended due to picking up yellow cards in earlier rounds. I tried to find the regulations on the EFL website concerning discipline with the cup, but couldn't see anything.
 
Walker certainly put in a session of training, not sure about Jesus - spot on the bench for one or both at best, I reckon.

Also read elsewhere Bernardo is suspended due to picking up yellow cards in earlier rounds. I tried to find the regulations on the EFL website concerning discipline with the cup, but couldn't see anything.


Pep Guardiola will definitely be without Bernardo Silva, who is suspended, while Ferran Torres, Ederson, Eric Garcia and Tommy Doyle are still isolating. Jesus and Kyle Walker have passed the required 10-day isolation period, so might be available to play if they have overcome Covid-19 and are fit enough.

Mahrez and Mendy back - Man City predicted XI vs Manchester United - Manchester Evening News
 
So we are down to one senior keeper available then......

Bernardo will be a big miss after his performance against Chelsea
 
We're Not Really Here 💙
Shaun Goater and Joleon Lescott will be the guests on our We’re Not Really Here matchday show tonight.

The pair will join presenter Natalie Pike in the CityTV studio at the Etihad Stadium with the pre-match show getting under way at 18:45 (UK), one hour before we kick-off against the Reds.
you can listen to the show and post your comment here on VMC
Mancity - Official Club Website