Manchester City F.C | Man City v Chelsea - Carabao Cup Matchday LIVE Updates Man City - Offical Club website.

It's that time of the evening when the players take to the pitch for the first time.

There are plenty of people already in their seats to greet them too.

We're expecting a bumper crowd tonight so here's hoping for a great atmosphere!

There are plenty of changes of course, but you can imagine the manner of victory against Fulham on Saturday will have lifted all of the players in the squad ahead of this one.

Joleon Lescott agrees, saying on Matchday Live: "When you score so late in a game it always feels special. The adrenaline is a bit higher. 

"The way they dominated the game with 10 men is unique to Man City. There were so many players rotating into different positions and they looked so comfortable doing it."

Since Pep Guardiola took charge of City in 2016/17, we have won 20 games in the EFL Cup, six more than any other side – lifting the trophy in four of Guardiola’s six previous campaigns before 2022/23.

Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer are the academy graduate representatives in our side tonight with Phil Foden on the bench.

Speaking on Matchday Live, the manager of our women's side is excited to see the hard work of our academy bearing fruit.

"I think Phil has been the flag-bearer for the academy for a number of years now. 

"It’s great to see Cole playing at that level, hopefully he can put in a really good performance. It’ll be interesting to see where he plays."

Sterling is back at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since leaving this summer.

He's only on the bench for Chelsea but it's always nice to see former players come back, especially one who won so much while here.

Skipper Ilkay Gundogan, Rodrigo, Julian Alvarez and Jack Grealish retain their places for the third round Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea.

Rico Lewis is recalled to the starting line-up after his first start against Sevilla while goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno also makes his first appearance in the competition.