Manchester City welcome Manchester United to Eastlands for Tuesday’s rescheduled League Cup semi final first leg contest, with the initial fixture having fallen foul of the winter snap.

Tuesday’s match will be the 153 meeting between these bitter rivals, with the contests becoming increasingly even, and the spoils harder to claim. Having already perhaps provided the match of the season thus far, this League Cup fixture will do well to better the stunning 4-3 win for United at Old Trafford earlier this season.

Nevertheless, this match is a cup semi final, and a contest between bitter rivals, and neither side will want to lose.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has already declared his side’s intentions for the match, saying “Once you're in a semi-final, you want to be in the final,  We want to be in a healthy position back at Old Trafford.”

It’s rare for United to get to a semi final and fail to reach the competitions climax, but City’s desire to end their 34 year wait for silverware could give them edge, for their home leg at least.

FORM GUIDE

Manchester City

Jan 16: Everton 2-0 Man City [Premier League]
Jan 11: Man City 4-1 Blackburn [Premier League}
Jan 02: Middlesbrough 0-1 Man City [FA Cup]
Dec 28: Wolves 0-3 Man City [Premier League]
Dec 26: Man City 2-0 Stoke City [Premier League]

Manchester United

Jan 16: Man United 3-0 Burnley [Premier League]
Jan 9: Birmingham 1-1 Man United [Premier League]
Jan 03: Man United 0-1 Leeds United [FA Cup]
Dec 30: Man United 5-0 Wigan [Premier League]
Dec 27: Hull City 1-3 Man United [Premier League]

TEAM NEWS

Manchester City

Roberto Mancini is likely to be without eight first-team players for Tuesday League Cup match against United.

Having limped off during the 2-0 defeat to Everton, striker Roque Santa Cruz will be out of action for a month after picking up a calf injury, whilst new signing Patrick Vieria will also miss out [calf].

Defenders Wayne Bridge [knee ligament], Joleon Lescott [knee], Nedum Onuoha [calf] will also be sidelined for the contest, along with midfielder Michael Johnson [knee], although Stephen Ireland [hamstring] is likely to feature on the City bench.

Meanwhile, striker Emmanuel Adebayor remains unavailable for selection following the gun attack on the Togo national team bus, and is away on compassionate leave.

Starting XI [vs Everton]:Given, Richards, Zabaleta, Garrido, Kompany, Petrov, Barry, De Jong, Santa Cruz, Tevez, Bellamy.

Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson could be without seven players for Tuesday match against, with striker Dimitar Berbatov his latest injury concern.

The striker picked up a knee injury during Saturday’s victory over Burnley, and the Bulgarian is doubtful for Tuesdays match.

United are also set to be without Ben Foster [back], Owen Hargreaves [knee], Federico Macheda [hamstring], John O’Shea [thigh].

First choice centre backs Nemanja Vidic [calf] and Rio Ferdinand [calf] could return for United, although the match is likely to have come too soon for the England defender, and a weekend return could be more feasible.

Starting XI [vs Burnley]: Van der Sar, Neville, Evra, Brown, Evans, Carrick, Nani, Scholes, Valencia, Berbatov, Rooney.

~Borat~:

He he!
i see sleek has got his id back,
try to be a good boy.
As a scumtwat, i know its mighty tough, but try

HNIC:

Red scum vs Blue scum for the Mickey mouse cup
Hope a brawl breaks out
I will like Tevez to beat up Neville and break his head(not leg, leg is useless anyway) for the rubbish he's been saying!

dyabman:

City till i die!!!

dyabman:

City till i die!!!

yes!

BlueDiva:

City for life !!!