Manchester City's quest for a ninth Carabao Cup begins this week against Watford at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola's team is fresh off a feisty 2–2 draw at home against Arsenal. City took a 1-0 lead early on as Erling Haaland scored his 100th goal for the club before goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel put the Gunners in front. However, John Stones would find a late equalizer for City deep into stoppage time to deny Arsenal, who was playing with 10 men, all three points.
City's nine Carabao Cups is only second all-time to Liverpool who have 10 to its name. Guardiola won four consecutive cups beginning in the 2017–18 season through the 2020–21 campaign. City's last Carabao Cup victory came against Tottenham Hotspur just after José Mourinho was fired thanks to a late winner from Aymeric Laporte.
Since City just played on Sunday and will have one day of rest, Guardiola might have no other choice but to make plenty of changes to his lineup vs. the EFL Championship outfit.
Players like Erling Haaland and Kyle Walker will likely keep their places in the first 11, but Guardiola can't field the same players that featured against Arsenal due to fatigue and the long season ahead. Guardiola will also have to make do without star midfielder Rodri for the remainder of the season after he suffered an ACL injury on Sunday.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Watford (3–4–2–1)
GK: Stefan Ortega – Guardiola should look to give Ortega minutes in goal.
CB: Kyle Walker – The 34-year-old is set to start at center-back and could come off early in the second half should City have the win wrapped up by then.
CB: John Stones – The former Everton defender starts in the middle of the back three after playing just over 10 minutes at the weekend.
CB: Joško Gvardiol – Although not optimal, Guardiola would probably prefer to give Gvardiol another start in defense so soon after Sunday's draw to allow Manuel Akanji to rest.
DM: Rico Lewis – The 19-year-old should be fit and firing after watching on as an unused substitute in the draw vs. Arsenal.
DM: Mateo Kovačić – The Croatia international played 70 minutes against the Gunners and should be fine to feature from the jump on Tuesday.
RW: Phil Foden – Foden logged 20 minutes off the bench vs. Arsenal and should be handed his first start of the season against an inferior side to build up confidence.
AM: Matheus Nunes – Nunes is in the same boat as Ortega. Guardiola could look to give him valuable minutes in case he needs to call on him more regularly as the season unfolds.
AM: İlkay Gündoğan – Back in his second stint at the Etihad, Guardiola knows he can rely on the 33-year-old in whatever role he needs him to take on.
LW: Jack Grealish – The former Aston Villa winger is still searching for his first goal involvement of the new season.
ST: Erling Haaland – The Norwegian striker could do with a rest Tuesday night but Guardiola may have no other choice but to start him and hope City take care of business in the first half.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Watford – Carabao Cup.