Man City v Chelsea predictions: Fringe players may not provide EFL Cup cracker

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Chelsea in the EFL Cup third round on Wednesday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event, 8pm

Best bet

One or both teams not to score
1pt 23-20 Betfair

Team news

Man City
Kalvin Phillips is fit but Joao Cancelo suspended while Kyle Walker is out and Erling Haaland is unlikely to be involved.

Chelsea
Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Ngolo Kante and Carney Chukwuemeka are injured. Youngsters Omari Hutchinson and Lewis Hall have been included in the squad.

Preview

The four cup ties between Pep Guardiola's Manchester City and Chelsea in the last few years have produced a grand total of four goals so don't go anticipating a goal feast at The Etihad in this third-round League Cup tie.

Home games involving City are usually high-scoring, high-octane affairs with Saturday's late, late 2-1 win over Fulham extending their home winning streak to 15 matches.

It also extended their record of having scored at least two goals in home games to 16 matches.

But nearly all of those contests featured full-strength City sides which won't be the case this time, while Graham Potter, already dogged by a lengthening injury list, will also summon a fair few recruits from the fringes.

Chelsea aren't on a great run anyway and Potter will be more than mindful of the fact they are off to Newcastle on Saturday in the Premier League.

At least one team have failed to score in ten of the past 14 showdowns between these heavyweights so the 23-20 that the same happens isn't a bad way into what is otherwise quite a tricky match to call with so many question marks over team selection.

City are short enough favourites and this is a competition they have done well in under Guardiola, no matter how far down the pecking order the Spaniard places it.

They have won it four times under him and boast a remarkable record of having lost only one of their last 25 home ties in this competition.

Guardiola will almost certainly bring in a number of young prospects but many of them – such as Rico Lewis, Cole Palmer, Josh Wilson-Esbrand – have already been integrated into the set-up so the step up isn't a mountainous one for them.

Potter's back-up options are actually impressive in terms of calibre – Connor Gallagher, Christian Pulisic, Mateo Kovacic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech all did not start Sunday's 1-0 loss to Arsenal – and the new Bridge gaffer is a seasoned tinkerer anyway.

That said, results and performances are mixed so while this tie is arguably something of an inconvenience, Potter would dearly love a decent display against top opposition to work with going forward.

City should win this but fatigue is affecting them as much as any of their rivals and they haven't been at their free-flowing best for a while.