Carabao Cup Quarter Final Draw

The Quarter Final Draw

Manchester City find themselves in the strange position  of being in the draw for the Carabao Cup Quarter finals despite not having completed their cup game against Fulham.

If they are knocked out tomorrow then their involvement in this Cup would be over anyway. But should they dispatch Fulham then they would be in the quarter finals of this competition.

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The Carabao Cup is the currently sponsored and named League Cup. This is often the second domestic trophy but I love the League Cup because it’s an early trophy in the domestic season and most of the attendance  at the Final is made up of fans rather than corporate and hospitality clients.

Manchester City have been drawn in the quarter final away from home against the winners of the Southampton v Leicester tie. That game was cancelled this week following the helicopter crash at Leicester and right now has not yet been rearranged.

The quarter final ties are due to be played the week commencing 17 December 2018. That date may prove to be unlikely given the delays in the Leicester game, so it’s feasible the match could be pushed back further.

Either way it’s likely we will face Leicester away twice in the space of 10 days given our league game against them is scheduled for 26 December.

Both Leicester and Southampton are Premier League clubs so it’s difficult to predict a winner. Right now it’s probably fair to say the winner will probably be the team which prioritises the competition.

Quite  a few premier league clubs often do not consider this a premium competition so tend to save their best players for the League games. Given the huge sums of TV money involved in the Premier League it’s not a surprise to see many teams prioritise this over other trophies.

Leicester should have the edge over Southampton on current form so may well be our most likely opposition. They will prove strong competition for us If we continue to play a second string team in this competition.

Facing Leicester in the Carabao Cup seems to be becoming a habit. We have faced them at a similar stage last season. During that game we emerged victorious once the game went to penalties.

Our focus though right now has to be on beating Fulham. A win there and we can be in touching distance of retaining a trophy for the very first time in our 125 year history.