PREVIEW: Newcastle United welcome Manchester City to St James’ Park in Carabao Cup semi-final | OneFootball

Newcastle United will look to defend their Carabao Cup title as they host Manchester City at St James’ Park in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday evening.

The Magpies ended a 70-year wait for major silverware last season, beating Liverpool 2–1 in the final at Wembley.

Eddie Howe’s side are unbeaten in their last four matches since a 1–0 defeat to Manchester United in December. That run includes Premier League victories over Burnley, Crystal Palace and Leeds United.

Newcastle come into the tie on the back of a dramatic FA Cup third-round victory, edging past Bournemouth 7–6 on penalties.

Howe is expecting a tough test against Manchester City but believes the home crowd can play a key role.

“I think the natural preference is for the home game to be the second leg because you have a clear understanding of what you need to do and have the crowd with you,” Howe said.

“It’s not like that for us this time. We need to use the home crowd to our advantage in the first game and give everything to impose ourselves.”

Newcastle are chasing a fifth consecutive home victory, with Howe welcoming the Carabao Cup’s two-legged semi-final format while acknowledging the scale of the challenge ahead.

“We enjoyed the two-legged format last year, and even the gap between the games was good because you could detach yourself from the result,” he said. “It’s very similar this year.

“This is going to be a tough challenge. They are the hardest team to play over two legs in this country.

“They always change and tinker with their tactical set-up, even when they have players missing. The priority is always us – what we need to do and how we can hurt them.”

Newcastle will be without Dan Burn, Emil Krafth, Fabian Schär, Jamaal Lascelles and William Osula due to injury, while Anthony Elanga remains a doubt.

Manchester City arrive on Tyneside unbeaten in their last 12 matches in all competitions since a 2–0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League in December.

Pep Guardiola’s side will be full of confidence after a 10–1 victory over Exeter City in the FA Cup third round. However, their most recent visit to St James’ Park ended in a 2–1 Premier League defeat in November.

Guardiola is expecting another difficult encounter against Howe’s side.

“For many years – since Eddie Howe took over – Newcastle have been so tough,” Guardiola said. “Look how many games they win at the last minute. The crowd pushes, the stadium is special, and it has been like that for a long time, but if we had played Arsenal in the semi-final, it would be the same difficulty.”

City will be without Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, John Stones and Savinho through injury.

The match will be broadcast live on ITV 1 and Sky Sports Main Event and will kick off at 8pm UK time.