Manchester City will be hoping that they can maintain their defence of the Capital One Cup when they face Newcastle at the Etihad on Wednesday.
They have been a good showing so far Manuel Pelligrini’s side after defeating Sheffield Wednesday 7-0 in their first outing, however they will be looking to get their season back on track after their 2-1 defeat away to West Ham left them third in the Premiership and six points behind the leaders Chelsea.
Newcastle on the other hand will be upbeat on their trip to Manchester after gaining their second consecutive win after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 on Sunday and have already defeated Gillingham and Crystal Palace in the competition.
History doesn’t bode well for the magpies as they have yet to progress beyond the fourth round of a domestic competition under manager Alan Pardew, a more worrying statistic is that Newcastle haven’t won against the Manchester side on their home turf since 2000 when a Alan Shearer goal gave them a 1-0 victory at Maine Road.
Pelligrini is expected to rotate his squad with key players sitting out ahead of the derby against Manchester United on Sunday, one of these expected changes is Joe Hart who is set to be replaced by Willy Caballero.
Midfielder Frank Lampard will be out of the game with a thigh injury, Samir Nasri could make his return as Pelligrini confirmed he had been training with the squad after his groin injury.
Pardew will be without both his strikers Papiss Cisse and Emmanuel Riviere who missed the victory on Sunday, Mike Williamson and Cheick Tiote will also be absent from the side.