Manchester City and Brentford have confirmed their starting lineups ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie at the Etihad Stadium. Tonight’s match is an opportunity for Pep Guardiola’s side to progress to yet another semi-final. But they’ll face a Brentford side who will be well organised and tough to beat. Keith Andrews’ side will have their eyes on a semi-final date in the Carabao Cup, so a fascinating tie awaits.
For Manchester City, they have a host of players who are unavailable for tonight’s match. Jeremy Doku, Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, and John Stones will miss tonight’s game due to injury. Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are unavailable for tonight’s match due to international duty. The pair will be unavailable for up to a month due their participation in the African Cup of Nations for Algeria and Egypt.
While City are missing are host of players tonight, there are a host of Manchester City’s fringe players who will be eager to make an impact tonight.
Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola has made seven changes to the starting lineup that beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Nico O’Reilly, Nico, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders are the only players who keep their places in the starting lineup from Manchester City’s win over Crystal Palace. Pep Guardiola has rotated his squad for tonight’s match.
Starting lineup: James Trafford, Rico Lewis, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nathan Ake (C), Nico O’Reilly, Nico, Tijjani Reijnders, Oscar Bobb, Rayan Cherki, Savinho, Divine Mukasa.
Substitutes: Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Nunes, Foden, Gray, Mfuni.
Brentford
🏆 Your Bees for tonight’s quarter-final #MCIBRE pic.twitter.com/qVWjOYRhzL
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 17, 2025