Confirmed Line-Ups: Manchester City vs Watford (Carabao Cup Third Round)

Manchester City take on Championship side Watford in the Carabao Cup third round at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.

Pep Guardiola and his players come into their first match of the 2024/25 League Cup campaign off the back of an enthralling 2-2 draw against Arsenal, to both maintain their unbeaten start to the new season and also retain their place at the top of the English top-flight.

It will be a midweek encounter for Manchester City to split two Premier League encounters, as the reigning champions travel to the north-east to take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.

As for their opponents Watford this week, Tom Cleverley’s side come into the meeting with arguably the best side on the planet having recorded three wins, one draw, and two defeats from their opening six Championship outings this season.

Manchester City will be without a long list of players due to injury problems, as all of Nathan Ake (hamstring), Rodri (knee), Kevin De Bruyne (groin), and Oscar Bobb (leg fracture) miss out this week, and are all set to be absent from the weekend too.

Ahead of kick-off at the Etihad Stadium, here is how both Pep Guardiola and Tom Cleverley have lined up their respective Manchester City and Watford sides in Carabao Cup third round action!

Manchester City

Starting XI: Ortega; Walker (C), Stones, Braithwaite, Lewis; O’Reilly, Nunes, McAtee; Doku, Foden, Grealish.

Substitutes: Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Wright, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo, Savinho.

Watford

Starting XI: Bond, Porteous, Ogbonna, Morris, Ebosele, Larouci, Ince, Louza, Sema (C), Bayo, Baah.

Substitutes: Marriott, Pollock, Chakvetadze, Vata, Dwomoh, Tikvic, Doumbia, Dele-Bashiru, Adu-Poku.