Holders Manchester City begin their latest Carabao Cup defence with a third-round tie against Bournemouth on Thursday night.
Pep Guardiola's side are looking to win England's secondary domestic cup competition for the fourth successive season after their 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Wembley in March.
Following a delayed start to 2020-21 owing to their Champions League commitments last term, City began the new Premier League season with a Kevin De Bruyne-inspired 3-1 win at Wolves on Monday evening.
Bournemouth - familiar opponents having spent five years in the top-flight before their relegation in 2019-20 - are unbeaten in their first three matches post-Eddie Howe, with a thrilling penalty shootout win over Crystal Palace in round two sandwiched between a Championship victory against Blackburn and draw at Middlesbrough.
Date, time and venue
Manchester City vs Bournemouth is scheduled for a 7:45pm BST kick-off on Thursday, September 24.
This match will be played behind closed doors at the Etihad Stadium with no fans due to be present due to government guidelines regarding coronavirus.
How to watch
Live stream: The match will not be televised live in the UK, but fans will still be able to watch via the carabaocup.live website.
Match passes cost £10.
Team news
Guardiola has confirmed that he will field mostly academy players against Bournemouth - a game that comes just three days after that hard-fought win at Wolves - as he seeks to keep his key senior stars fresh for the Premier League challenges ahead.
City's ranks have been depleted by the absences of Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo, Eric Garcia, Aleks Zinchenko and Aymeric Laporte, while Ilkay Gundogan is currently self-isolating after becoming the club's third player to test positive for coronavirus over recent weeks.
"Against Bournemouth we will play mostly players in the academy and try to keep energy for the Premier League," Guardiola said.
“With the lack of preparation and seven players out, we have to keep the players who played today as fresh as possible.
“We will see how the players recover. We won the Carabao Cup three times and we want to win again but we will have to see.
“It is what it is. We have to adapt. Winning away in this stadium is so difficult. That’s why it’s a good victory for us."We cannot pretend we can recover in three days. That’s the situation we have."
Bournemouth, meanwhile, are without experienced winger Junior Stanislas (knock) and defender Charlie Daniels (knee).
Prediction: Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth
City's youngsters will see this as a huge opportunity to prove their worth, while Bournemouth will no doubt view Guardiola's youth approach as a fantastic chance to spring a morale-boosting upset at the Etihad.
However, as is often the way with this competition - especially during the current hectic campaign - Jason Tindall is also likely to make changes with Championship promotion the no1 priority this term and a tough test against Norwich to come on Sunday.
Expect a close affair, with City's young guns edging to an entertaining victory to give Guardiola additional food for thought.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
This will be only the 17th meeting between these two sides, with City having absolutely dominated this fixture in the past.
City have won 14 of those 16 previous matches, including the last 10 in a row.
Bournemouth have never managed a single victory over their next opponents, with both of their draws to date coming in 1989 and 1999 respectively.
Could this finally be their chance?
Betting odds and tips
- Man City to win: 40/85
- Bournemouth to win: 6/1
- Draw after 90 mins: 4/1
Odds courtesy of Betfair Exchange. Click here to find out more.
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