41 days after their last outing, Manchester City return to action tonight as they take on Liverpool in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
City’s last competitive match was a surprise 2-1 league defeat to Brentford just before the World Cup break, so they will be looking to put the record straight against a tough opponent in a competition they won four times between 2018 and 2021.
16 City players took part in the World Cup in Qatar, but nearly all of them will be in contention to start just four days after the final. Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan played in the friendly win against Girona last week, while the likes of Rodri, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva all returned to training this week.
Julian Alvarez, who played in Sunday’s final, and Ederson are unavailable. Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Cole Palmer and Sergio Gomez have had the past month off, although Pep Guardiola said his World Cup stars are in better shape than that quartet.
Liverpool will be without Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, although Jurgen Klopp does have Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Thiago Alcantara at his disposal.
You can follow all the action from the Etihad LIVE in our blog below.
