Predicted Starting Line-Up: Huddersfield Town vs Manchester City (Carabao Cup Third Round) | OneFootball

Manchester City will open their domestic cup campaign on Wednesday evening with a trip into Yorkshire to face League One’s Huddersfield Town at the Accu Stadium.

Sunday’s action at the Emirates Stadium saw a late Gabriel Martinelli effort snatch a point for the hosts and deflate the travelling blues after a long and bruising defensive battle from Manchester City following Erling Haaland’s opener nine minutes in.

For only the third time in his Manchester City tenure, Pep Guardiola fielded an unchanged starting line-up for a third consecutive match – a sign that the blues may be threading the needle to a succeeding formula after following up an uncertain start to the season with two convincing wins at home and a hard fought point away at Arsenal.

Sitting pretty in 5th position at present in the League One table, Huddersfield will be a team with a point to prove when Manchester City come to town, having already demonstrated their capability of bettering top-flight opposition as the Terriers dumped newly-promoted Sunderland out of the competition on penalties in round two.

Last season’s first venture into Carabao Cup football saw Watford make the trip to the Etihad Stadium in round three, where a stacked injury list saw surprise calls in Pep Guardiola’s XI, including a first start for then 16-year-old Kaden Braithwaite in a tricky 2-1 win, with a late Tom Ince strike shaking the boat for the blues.

We can expect to see changes to the team sheet on Wednesday night after Pep Guardiola’s hesitant concession of concerns over Manchester City’s tight schedule when questioned after the weekend’s encounter with Arsenal.

Having not progressed past the quarter-final stage of the competition since 2021, Manchester City will be raring to rip up their recent record in the Carabao Cup, and this is how we see them lining up on Wednesday night!

Predicted XI

Gianluigi Donnarumma’s arrival has thrown an abrupt spanner in the works for James Trafford in his quest to become Manchester City’s No.1 since returning to the club, but we reckon this third round tie presents the perfect opportunity to reclaim some minutes.

Having not made a starting line-up appearance since the 0-2 home disappointment against Tottenham in August, Rico Lewis has a case to make since Abdukodir Khusanov’s rich show of class at right-back of late.

There has been lots of discourse on veteran John Stones’ place in the team recently, despite still being an England international, as Manchester City’s No.5 personifies experience and versatility; boasting nearly 10 years with the blues. A start is surely in the works here.

Another Manchester City icon who will be hoping to consistently write his name on the team sheet is Nathan Ake. His defensive displays at left-back during Manchester City’s treble run are often cited, but we believe he is more than qualified to fill in at his natural position.

Nico O’Reilly has exuded confidence since his promotion from the academy, and his stalwart left-back performances across the end of last season, since standing in as an understudy to the injured Rayan Aït-Nouri have not gone unnoticed by the Manchester City faithful. Despite the knock he picked up on Sunday, we still think he will be fit to start.

It is fair to say that the return of 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has brushed aside Nico in the race to secure the anchor position in the Manchester City midfield, but a Wednesday night away at Huddersfield could be exactly what the former Porto star needs as he adapts more to English football.

With such a tight schedule and players on the treatment table, Pep Guardiola will be looking to rotate the squad wherever he can, and that is when Divine Mukasa’s pre-season showing springs to mind. Demonstrating golden nuggets of play and an assist against Palermo, it may just be time for the 18-year-old’s first competitive appearance.

Playing the last three games in a wide position, captain Bernardo Silva has shown his excellence all over the pitch, and leaving space to rest other key players such as Phil Foden and Tijjani Reijnders in the centre, we think he fits the bill to partner Mukasa.

We have opted for Savinho on the right hand side of attack, with the Brazilian having only made two substitute appearances since flirtations with a £70 million move to Tottenham in the summer. The Brazilian should be bursting to hit ground running in his first start.

Leading the line, Erling Haaland is in need of a rest given his role in top-level competitive fixtures. As such, we believe there could be a role for Oscar Bobb to lead the line in somewhat of a false-nine position, with a mesmerising ability in tight spaces and quality of vision.

Round off the side with a start from the left of attack, we think Jeremy Doku could be granted an opportunity to impress once more, perhaps in an attempt to get the tie finished off early on before bringing him off with time to spare.

Starting XI: Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Ake, O’Reilly; Nico, Mukasa, Bernardo (C); Savinho, Bobb, Doku.

Substitutes: Ortega, Bettinelli, Nunes, Mfuni, Gvardiol, Rodri, Reijnders, Heskey, Haaland.