Nico O’Reilly, Tijjani Reijnders, Nico and Rayan Cherki are the four starters from Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League that keep their place.
Divine Mukasa returns to the starting line-up after featuring in the previous League Cup wins over Huddersfield and Swansea while fellow Academy players Stephen Mfuni and Charlie Gray are on the bench.
As well as the injured trio of John Stones, Rodri and Jeremy Doku, we are without Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri who have joined up with Egypt and Algeria, respectively, for the African Cup of Nations.
Teams
CITY XI: Trafford, Lewis, Khusanov, Ake (C), O’Reilly, Nico, Reijnders, Bobb, Cherki, Savinho, Mukasa
Subs: Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland, Bernardo, Gvardiol, M Nunes, Foden, Gray, Mfuni
BRENTFORD XI: Valdimarsson, Henry, Van den Berg, Ajer, Collins (C), Kayode, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Damsgaard, Janelt, Schade.
Subs: Kelleher, Hickey, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter, Peart-Harris, Konak, G Nunes, Arthur, Donovan.
Formation
Mukasa played as a false-nine in our two previous League Cup wins and could well lead the line for Pep Guardiola’s side tonight.
Oscar Bobb and Savinho would then be the wingers although the boss does have the options with the latter able to play centrally.
But Cherki has also impressed as a wide midfielder so could potentially drop into a more central role alongside Reijnders and Nico.
There’s plenty for Pep to consider from his starting XI ahead of kick-off.
Homegrown heroes
It’s another great day for our Academy with five homegrown players starting and three more on the bench.
Left-footed defender Mfuni was an unused sub in the third round win at Huddersfield while Gray is part of the squad for the first time.
From Manchester, Gray is a hard-working holding midfielder who is also capable of playing in a more box-to-box role.
Both have with the Club since the under-nines and were part of the successful 2024 Youth Cup campaign.
Bees take flight
Brentford are also without two players at the African Cup of Nations with Frank Onyeka and Dango Ouattara joining up with the Nigeria and Burkina Faso squads.
We kept a clean sheet when we won 1-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League as we stood up to the high balls coming into the area.
“They can put the ball in the box from the halfway line, so I think we are prepared for any type of game of course every week or every three days,” Matheus Nunes said after our win at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
“We have to prepare differently in certain parts of the game, but mostly when it comes to teams that play low blocks specifically we know that they’re going to put a lot of crosses in.”
Stats and facts
This is just the second campaign we have faced Brentford in the League Cup, winning 5-3 on aggregate in the 1989/90 second round (1-2 away, 4-1 home).
Since doing the Premier League double over City in 2022/23, Brentford have lost four of their last five against City in all competitions.
This is our first League Cup quarter-final since a 2-0 loss to Southampton in 2022/23. Prior to that, they had progressed from eight consecutive ties at this stage of the competition.
Brentford have reached the League Cup quarter-final for the fourth time in the last six seasons. They beat Newcastle 1-0 in 2020/21, before defeats to Chelsea (2021/22) and the Magpies (2024/25).
City have won nine of our last 10 home games in the League Cup, scoring 31 goals in the process. The only exception was a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the 2019/20 semi-final, a tie from which they progressed anyway.
Brentford have won their last two away games in the League Cup, seeing off Grimsby Town 5-0 in round four. Only once have they won three in a row on the road in the competition, doing so between 2017 and 2018.
Phil Foden has been involved in 11 goals in his last 11 starts in the League Cup for City (4 goals, 7 assists). He’s also scored seven goals in eight appearances against Brentford in all competitions.
Seven of Brentford’s eight League Cup goals this season have been scored by different players, with Fabio Carvalho the only player to score more than once. It is already their most ever different scorers in a single League Cup campaign (excluding own goals).
