Manchester City will be aiming to avoid a shock exit in the EFL Cup when they take on Championship outfit Swansea City in the fourth round of the competition on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola's side will be looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League, while Swansea will be searching for back-to-back wins, having beat Norwich City 2-1 in the Championship last time out.
Match preview
Swansea won for the first time in almost a month on Saturday, beating Norwich 2-1 in Wales, with Zan Vipotnik scoring twice to secure a valuable three points, and the result moved them up to 13th in the Championship table.
Alan Sheehan's side are only three points off the playoffs at this stage of the campaign, and they have been in impressive form in the EFL Cup this season, needing to win three times to reach this round.
Indeed, the Welsh club have beaten Crawley Town, Plymouth Argyle and Nottingham Forest in this season's EFL Cup, and they will now be aiming to overcome another Premier League club to reach the quarter-finals.
Swansea famously won the League Cup in 2013, beating Bradford City 5-0 in the final of the competition, and the hosts would have huge confidence if they managed to overcome Man City on Wednesday night.
That said, the Swans are on a seven-game losing run against Man City in all competitions, including a 2-1 defeat when the two teams locked horns in the third round of the EFL Cup back in September 2016.
Swansea City head coach Alan Sheehan on August 30, 2025
Man City, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Villa in England's top flight, with Matty Cash netting the only goal of the contest in the 19th minute.
Guardiola's side are down in fifth spot in the Premier League table, picking up 16 points from nine matches, and they sit six points behind leaders Arsenal, who have emerged as serious title favourites.
The Citizens have won two of their three Champions League matches this term, while they have only played once in the EFL Cup this term, beating Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the third round.
Man City have won the League Cup on eight occasions, with their last success coming in 2021, and they are naturally among the favourites to lift the trophy this season.
The Citizens have won 26 of their previous 37 matches against Swansea in all competitions, while they are unbeaten against the Welsh side since a 1-0 reverse in the Premier League back in March 2012.
Swansea City EFL Cup form:
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Swansea City form (all competitions):
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Man City EFL Cup form:
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Man City form (all competitions):
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Team News
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates on October 5, 2025
Swansea will again be missing Ricardo Santos on Wednesday due to a knee injury, but the Championship outfit are otherwise in strong shape in terms of their squad.
Malick Yalcouye missed the weekend clash with Norwich in the Championship through suspension, but the attacker is expected to be introduced back into the side for this match.
Head coach Sheehan will make changes from Saturday, with Adam Idah in line to feature in the final third of the field, while there should also be starts for Benson Manuel Hedilazio and Ishe Samuels-Smith.
As for Man City, Erling Haaland will need to be assessed after colliding with the post in the latter stages of the clash with Villa, although the Norway international is unlikely to start even if he is declared fit.
Rodri, Abdukodir Khusanov and Rayan Ait-Nouri are the other three injury doubts for Man City, with decisions on the trio likely to be made on Tuesday.
Guardiola will make changes from the side that started against Villa in the Premier League, with James Trafford set for a spot between the sticks, while Nico Gonzalez, Jeremy Doku, Nico O'Reilly, Omar Marmoush, Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic could also be introduced into the XI.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Fisher; Key, Casey, Burgess, Samuels-Smith; Franco, Galbraith; Manuel Hedilazio, Yalcouye, Eom; Idah
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Trafford; Nunes, Stones, Ake, O'Reilly; Lewis; Bobb, Kovacic, Nico, Doku; Marmoush
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We say: Swansea City 0-2 Manchester City
Man City will not be at full strength on Wednesday, but we are still expecting Guardiola's side to have too much for their Championship opponents, with a comfortable night likely to see them progress into the next round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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