Date: Tuesday, January 21 Venue: Upton Park Kick-Off: 19:45 Manchester City have one foot in the Capital One Cup final going into tonight's second-leg semi-final encounter with West Ham following their 6-0 win on January 8.
Team News
West Ham are set to recall captain Kevin Nolan and defender James Tomkins with the pair returning from four and one-match suspensions, respectively. Andy Carroll and Ravel Morrison are expected to feature at some point and Ricardo Vaz Te could make his comeback from a dislocated shoulder. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is expected to rest his big guns given his side's 6-0 advantage from the first leg. Stevan Jovetic and Jack Rodwell could get a run out following lengthy spells on the sidelines. (bbc)
Key Stats
Manchester City have lost none of their last eight meetings with West Ham in all competitions. City's 6-0 victory in the first-leg was the joint-biggest win in League Cup semi-final history - West Ham were also on the end of the other six-goal defeat when they lost 6-0 to Oldham in 1990. West Ham have lost five of their last six League Cup semi-final ties and have not reached a final since 1980-81. Both clubs were semi-finalists in 1964 and 2011, with West Ham losing to the eventual winners on both occasions.
Likely Line-Ups
West Ham Adrian, Rat, Collins, Tomkins, Taylor, Jarvis, Noble, Nolan, J. Cole, Downing, C. Cole Man City Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Boyata, Demichelis, Kolarov, Silva, Garcia, Milner, Navas, Dzeko, Jovetic
Match Preview
Following Manchester City's 6-0 thrashing of West Ham in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-finals a fortnight ago, bookmakers give the Hammers 500-1 odds of reaching the final. That alone sums up the size of the task facing Sam Allardyce's side, who go into this encounter with the tie surely beyond them and nothing left to play for but pride itself. City's hammering of the Hammers earlier this month was the joint-heaviest win in League Cup semi-final history and with West Ham struggling at the back with defensive injuries, that aggregate score may well be uglier by the end of the evening. Allardyce will be hoping for damage limitation here with morale at an all-time low at Upton Park and his side back in the Premier League relegation zone following last weekend's 3-1 defeat to Newcastle. With City breaking the 100-goal mark in just their 34th game of the season on Saturday and chasing an unprecedented quadruple of trophies, it would take a United comeback of Lazarus proportions for them to be denied here, and I'm going for another resounding win for City, regardless of the fact Manuel Pellegrini is likely to rest key personnel. Prediction: 0-3