Eddie Howe and Pep Guardiola both faced the media on Tuesday ahead of their EFL Cup semi-final, second-leg tie the following day.
We’ve got the key Newcastle United and Manchester City team news in this article.
You can read what Mikel Arteta and Liam Rosenior said ahead of Tuesday’s clash at the Emirates here.
MANCHESTER CITY
Rayan Cherki (knock) will be assessed today after hobbling off at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
“He has a knock and we’ll see today how does he feel.” – Pep Guardiola on Rayan Cherki
Ruben Dias (hamstring) was back in training on Monday but, as expected, there was no Jeremy Doku (calf). Pep Lijnders expressed hope last Friday that Doku’s timeline of recovery would be “a little bit shorter” than his previous 18-day absence.
“Ruben [Dias] started to training yesterday and Jeremy [Doku] not yet.” – Pep Guardiola
John Stones (thigh), Josko Gvardiol (leg), Mateo Kovacic (ankle) and Savinho (thigh) are all still sidelined.
Antoine Semenyo can feature in this tie, as indeed he did at St James’ Park three weeks ago. Marc Guehi can’t, however: he is ineligible as he was signed after the semi-final first leg.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Bruno Guimaraes (ankle) looks set to miss out yet again for the Magpies, although there is some hope that he could be fit for the Gameweek 25 visit of Brentford.
“Bruno is doing well. I don’t think he’ll make this game but there is a chance for the weekend.” – Eddie Howe
Elsewhere, it’s mixed news on Lewis Miley (knee) and Sven Botman (both). Those two were unused substitutes on Saturday, with injuries preventing them from getting onto the field.
Botman will be fit for the rematch with Manchester City but Miley is a big doubt.
“Sven is okay. Lewis, I’m not sure will make this game either.” – Eddie Howe
Elsewhere, Fabian Schar (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee), Tino Livramento (hamstring) and Joelinton (groin) remain out.
Newcastle are the busiest Premier League team from now until March, and Howe was asked about his rotation policy with the fixtures coming thick and fast.
“There’s a lot of thought that’s going into our team selections at the moment and it has been [the case] all season. We’ve tried to pick and choose the moments when we rotate. We don’t want to rotate too many at one time. I try to keep it to two to three, maybe four, on a game-by-game basis to make sure that we give the players the best chance to perform firstly, so they enter the pitch in a great physical condition, and try to minimise injuries, of course.” – Eddie Howe
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