The battle to win the 2020-21 League Cup is at the semifinal stage this week, with a Manchester Derby taking center stage and the winner will be the favorites to lift the trophy on April 25 at Wembley Stadium.
Old Trafford is the location for the remaining semifinal, Manchester United - Manchester City, as Tottenham beat Brentford 2-0 to reach the League Cup final.
[ MORE: League Cup commentary, stats, box scores ]
Man City will travel less than five miles to face local and Premier League rivals Manchester United.
City is bidding to join Liverpool for the most League Cups in history with eight, while United seeks its sixth and Tottenham its fifth.
Manchester United v Man City -- 2:45 pm ET Wednesday
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lost two of his first three head-to-head meetings with Pep Guardiola but has since claimed two wins and a draw to boast a 3W-1D-2L record in Manchester derbies, though it should be noted that the first win was the 1-0 second leg of the 2019-20 League Cup semifinal that sent United out of the tournament.
🚨 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬!
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 6, 2021
📋 Ole has made 2️⃣ changes to our starting XI for tonight's semi-final 👊
🔴 #MUFC
🏆 #CarabaoCup
This year the clubs’ collision course again ends in the semifinal, where Solskjaer’s United has found a roadblock in its last four tournaments. After last season’s League Cup semifinal exit versus Man City, the Red Devils were knocked out of the Europa League semis by Sevilla and the FA Cup semis by Chelsea.
[ MORE: Solskjaer hits back at Klopp ]
City has won the last three League Cups and has a total of five since 2014’s win over Sunderland at Wembley. Pep Guardiola has only lost two League Cup matches in 23 outings, last season’s second leg versus United and a 2016-17 fourth-round derby versus Jose Mourinho’s Red Devils.
Here's your Manchester Derby line-up! 🙌
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 6, 2021
XI | Steffen, Cancelo, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, Fernandinho (C), Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
SUBS | Trafford, Walker, Jesus, Aguero, Rodrigo, Mendy, Nmecha, Harwood-Bellis, Mbete
⚽️ @HaysWorldwide
🔷 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/KZVqVqH7Q8
United beat Everton, Brighton, and Luton Town -- all away -- to get here, while City won at Arsenal and Burnley after beating Bournemouth at home to start the tournament.
Prediction: Man United 1-2 Man City
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 05: (L-R) Son Heung-Min of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammates Lucas Moura, Tanguy NDombele and Moussa Sissoko after scoring their team’s second goal during the Carabao Cup Semi Final between Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on January 05, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Brentford -- Recap, analysis
Moussa Sissoko scored in the first half and Heung-min Son after the break as Tottenham Hotspur claimed a spot in the League Cup Final with a 2-0 defeat of Championship side Brentford in a London derby on Tuesday in North London.
[ MORE: Premier League stats | PL standings ]
Sergio Reguilon and Tanguy Ndombele set up Spurs’ goals, while a game Brentford had an equalizer pulled off the board by VAR shortly before Tottenham’s second marker.
Joshua Dasilva was sent off late for Brentford following cleats to the shin of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, seeing a card the same color the Spurs’ man’s blood and putting the Bees’ comeback hopes to bed.
Prediction: Spurs 3-1 Brentford
How to watch League Cup quarterfinals
Stream: ESPN+
Live updates, stats: via NBCSports.com
Odds (full odds provided by our partner, PointsBet)
Tottenham Hotspur (-210) v Brentford (+560) | Draw (+340)
Manchester United (+250) v Man City (+100) | Draw (+270)
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