Manchester United and Manchester City will play each other over two legs in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup following tonight’s draw. The two sides both saw off Football League opposition in their respective quarter-finals to set up a Manchester Derby. Elsewhere, Aston Villa and Leicester City, who both faced remarkably different quarter-final matches, will meet in the other tie.
Manchester Derby and Aston Villa to Play Leicester City in Carabao Cup Semi-Finals
Manchester United v Manchester City
Both of these sides had relatively easy tasks in their way to reach the semi-final stage. United, despite facing a tricky first half, scored three times after the break to dispatch League Two side Colchester United. City, meanwhile, were given a shock when Oxford United’s Matty Taylor levelled following Joao Cancelo’s opener, but two strikes from Raheem Sterling in the second half gave them a comfortable win.
The most recent game between these two sides took place at the start of the month when United produced a shock to win 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League. This time, though, they will have to do it over two legs. City have been the kings of this competition in recent years, winning the last two tournaments and winning four this decade, more than any other team.
Both sides will be confident of reaching the final – City due to their dominance in this competition and United due to their recent up-turn in form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It’s set to be an intriguing tie.
Leicester City v Aston Villa
Both Leicester and Aston Villa faced incredibly different matches to reach this point.
Leicester were 2-0 up and seemingly cruising away to managerless Everton, but goals from Tom Davies and Leighton Baines levelled the tie to take it to penalties. Baines went from hero to zero by being one of those to miss from the spot, before Jamie Vardy went on to notch the winning kick.
Villa, meanwhile, had to overcome uncertainty when they were up against an extremely youthful Liverpool side. With the Reds’ first-team squad currently in Qatar for the Club World Cup, U23’s boss Neil Critchley was in charge of Liverpool’s youngest ever team, which averaged just over 19 years in age.
Conor Hourihane opened the scoring before Morgan Boyes’ own goal increased the lead. Jonathan Kodjia then added a brace before the break before Wesley completed a 5-0 rout late on.
Given the way Villa have played in some of their games this season, bar the obvious dominance over a youth team, this semi-final match-up could be an entertaining one to watch. Brendan Rodgers has his Leicester team playing some magical football at times, and he will also be keen to not break his current record in domestic competitions of 29 straight wins, largely helped by his time with Celtic.
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