Pep Guardiola makes seven changes from the side that beat Fulham on Saturday.

Skipper Ilkay Gundogan, Rodrigo, Julian Alvarez and Jack Grealish retain their places for the third round Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea.

Rico Lewis is recalled to the starting line-up after his first start against Sevilla while goalkeeper Stefan Ortega also makes his first appearance in the competition.

Kalvin Phillips is on the bench and hoping to get his first minutes since the Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund in September after a shoulder operation.

And Saturday’s matchwinner Erling Haaland is also among the substitutes after Guardiola confirmed he is not completely over his foot injury.

LINE-UPS

CITY: Ortega, Lewis, Dias, Laporte, Gomez, Rodrigo, Gundogan (c), Palmer, Mahrez, Grealish, Alvarez

Subs: Ederson, Phillips, Stones, Ake, Haaland, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Akanji, Foden

FORMATION: 4-3-3

It’s never easy to guess how Guardiola’s players will line-up but this might be one of the more straightforward set-ups.

City have two full-backs with Lewis and Sergio Gomez on either side of Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte but we will still find out whether they will tuck in as extra midfielders or stay wide.

Rodrigo will continue in the holding midfield role and we wait to see how many minutes Phillips will get with the England midfielder desperate to get back on the pitch after a frustrating spell ruled out injured.

Guardiola also spoke about making changes to keep his players fresh after the incredible effort with 10 men to overcome Fulham in injury time at the weekend.

But there is no danger of extra time as the match will go straight to penalties if the score is level at full-time.

STERLING RETURNS

The England international is on the bench for his first game back at the Etihad Stadium since his switch to Chelsea in the summer.

In his seven years at City, Sterling became one of our greatest modern-day players, winning four Premier League titles and making 339 appearances and scoring 131 goals.  

He is also 11th on the list of City’s record goal-scorers and only Sergio Aguero has scored more than his 91 Premier League goals.

Sterling also has a taste for success in the League Cup, having won the trophy five times during his time with City.

It’s been a mixed start at Chelsea, who are currently seventh in the Premier League having replaced Thomas Tuchel with new boss Graham Potter.

Sterling has five goals in his 18 appearances for his new Club but has only scored once away from Stamford Bridge.

STATS AND FACTS

  • This is the fourth meeting between City and Chelsea in the League Cup, and first since the 2019 final, which ended 0-0 before City won 4-3 on penalties.
  • Chelsea have lost 10 of their last 14 away matches against City in all competitions (W3 D1), losing 1-0 last season in the Premier League.
  • City have progressed from each of their last nine League Cup third round ties, scoring 34 goals in those games. Their last elimination at this stage was in 2012-13 against Aston Villa.
  • Chelsea haven’t gone out in the League Cup third round since the 2010-11 campaign, losing 4-3 to Newcastle United. They’ve progressed from their last 11 ties at this stage.
  • Since Pep Guardiola took charge of City in 2016-17, the Citizens have won 20 games in the EFL Cup, six more than any other side – lifting the trophy in four of Guardiola’s six previous campaigns before 2022-23.
  • City have won 12 of their last 15 home games in the EFL Cup (D1 L2), scoring 54 goals in the process and at an average of 3.6 per match.
  • City have only lost one of their last 14 EFL Cup matches against sides from the same division (W10 D3), winning each of the last five such fixtures in a row.
  • Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in five of their last eight matches in the EFL Cup, including recording a shutout in each of the last four in a row in the competition. This run of four consecutive clean sheets is the Blues’ longest such streak in their EFL Cup history.
  • Chelsea have won their last two away games in the EFL Cup without conceding – only in September 2008 have they have won three in a row without conceding on the road in the competition.