Man City line-up vs Newcastle predicted as Rodri call made and Phil Foden starts Carabao Cup tie

Manchester City take on Newcastle United in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tonight

Manchester City will hope to take a giant stride towards the Carabao Cup final when they face Newcastle in the first leg of their semi-final at St James' Park this evening.

The Blues romped to a convincing 10-1 win over League One side Exeter City in the FA Cup third round last time out in a timely boost after three successive Premier League draws had allowed Arsenal to extend their advantage at the top of the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola played a stronger than expected side against their third tier opponents on Saturday with Rodri and Erling Haaland in the XI. Both were replaced at the break but both could be back in the starting line-up in the north east.

City have a Manchester derby on the horizon but the chance to take a step towards a final and a potential trophy is one not to be ignored and so Rodri and Haaland could start.

Guardiola has confirmed James Trafford will start in goal while Max Alleyne and Abdukodir Khusanov look set to continue their centre back partnership. It feels natural to rest Nathan Ake after his 45 minutes against Exeter and Nico O'Reilly has had some time out of the team so can come back in.

Matheus Nunes could get the nod on the right of the back four with Rico Lewis, impressive against Exeter, starting in midfield. Nico Gonzalez and Phil Foden were unused subs against the Grecians and both could come into the team in the north east. Antoine Semenyo hit the ground running against Exeter and could get the nod again with injuries impacting the options in wide areas.

Predicted City XI: Trafford, Nunes, Alleyne, Khusanov, O'Reilly; Rodri, Gonzalez, Lewis, Foden, Semenyo, Haaland