Key events
Manchester City 1-0 Watford. Kwadwo Baah, barrelling down the right, brushes the 16-year-old debutant Kaden Braithwaite out of the way with absurd ease, before lashing past Stefan Ortega and into the net. But the whistle goes for the over-zealous nature of the shoulder-barge. Or was it an over-zealous use of the referee’s whistle? You’ve seen them given. You’ve seen play waved on, too. Watford will consider themselves unlucky, especially when they need all the help they can get against the best squad in the land.
Manchester City 1-0 Watford. “Is it sound-effects night?” asks Charles Antaki. “Excellent! I truly hope that at some point you’ll be able to use this one, preferably on the 15th occasion that Erling Haaland fails to score tonight. Yes I know it’s unlikely. But hey.” It’s unlikely all right, given that Haaland has been given the night off. Oh Charles!
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Barrow (Nkunku 15)
A low Malo Gusto cross from the right glanced into the bottom left, and it’s a second goal for Christopher Nkunku. What a delicious finish, too, a gentle backflick that foxes the keeper. It’s going to be a long evening for Barrow, for sure.
Wycombe 0-0 Aston Villa. Completing our tetraptych of kick-off whistles. Jhon Duran immediately misses a one-on-one sitter.
Chelsea 1-0 Barrow. Could Paul Farman have done better for that opening goal? Perhaps that’s being harsh. Either way, though, the Barrow captain has more than made up for it by spreading himself to deny João Félix, who was clean through on goal. It looks like it’s going to be a busy night for the visiting keeper.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Barrow (Nkunku 8)
So much for that confident start by Barrow. João Félix wedges cutely over the visitors’ back line, and Christopher Nkunku slots under keeper-captain Paul Farman, who might have done better, but what an assist.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Watford (Doku 5)
Keeper Jonathan Bond dithers when he should launch a ball passed back to him. Jack Grealish steps in and tees up Jeremy Doku, who sorts his feet on the edge of the D and slots into the bottom left. Memories of this already.
Chelsea 0-0 Barrow. A lively start for the fourth-division visitors, who are on the front foot early doors. A long throw-in from the left is allowed to bounce all the way through a crowded Chelsea box.
Whistles sound all across the land. Well, OK, in west London, east Manchester and Walsall. But they’re sounding! Wycombe to join the party in 15 minutes.
More on that crowdfunder to help AFC Wimbledon. “Just wanted to thank the Guardian for this article,” writes Owen Linderholm. “I wouldn’t have known otherwise (despite being a Wimbledon fan for over 40 years).” Anyone else interested in the fundraiser can find out about it here. At the time of posting this entry, it’s raised nearly £80,000.
AFC Wimbledon P-P Newcastle United. There was meant to be a fifth League Cup match tonight, but flooding at the Cherry Red Records Stadium did for that. The game will now be played at St James’ Park this time next week. But here’s some welcome good news for the club at an otherwise tricky time.
Team news: Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa
Whatever happens at Adams Park tonight, it’s party time for Wycombe, who are 137 years old today! It’s also midfielder Josh Scowen’s 500th career appearance. Hip, hip, etc., everyone.
Aston Villa make ten changes after the 3-1 comeback win over Wolves. Jhon Duran, who has four goals in five substitute appearances, gets a shot from the start this time.
Wycombe Wanderers: Ravizzoli, Skura, Low, Hartridge, Pattenden, Scowen, Butcher, Bakinson, Wheeler, Lubala, Sadlier.
Subs: George, Grimmer, Harvie, Leahy, McCleary, Humphreys, Kone, McCarthy, Onyedinma.
Aston Villa: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Bogarde, Swinkels, Maatsen, Barkley, Onana, Bailey, Buendia, Young, Duran.
Subs: Zych, Diego Carlos, Ramsey, Moore, Rowe, Jimoh, Borland, Broggio, Patterson.
Referee: Sam Allison (Somerset).
Team news: Walsall v Leicester City
Fourth-tier Walsall have already proved themselves to be cup specialists this season. They rescued themselves in round one of this tournament with a stoppage-time equaliser against Exeter City, then came from two down to beat Huddersfield Town. They’ve also beaten Birmingham City and Fulham U21 in the Football League Trophy.
Leicester make ten changes to their team in the wake of the weekend draw with Everton. Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Harry Winks and Saturday’s goalscoring hero Stephy Mavididi are given the night off.
Walsall: Simkin, Okagbue, Williams, Weir, Liam Gordon, Adomah, Stirk, Lakin, Connor Barrett, Lowe, Maher.
Subs: Hornby, Daniels, Matt, Comley, Hall, Allen, Jellis, Johnson, Browne.
Leicester City: Ward, Ricardo Pereira, Coady, Okoli, Thomas, Soumare, Choudhury, Fatawu, Buonanotte, De Cordova-Reid, Edouard.
Subs: Iversen, Justin, Faes, Skipp, Golding, El Khannous, McAteer, Alves, Ayew.
Referee: Tom Nield (West Yorkshire).
Team news: Manchester City v Watford
A mere two days after that brouhaha with Arsenal, Pep Guardiola makes nine changes to his starting XI. The most notable new face: centre-back Kaden Braithwaite, who at 16 years and 229 days becomes the third-youngest full debutant in Manchester City’s history. (For the record, he’s behind Glyn Pardoe and Paul Simpson.) Erling Haaland gets the night off.
Watford also hand out a debut to a centre-back, albeit one at the other end of his career. Angelo Ogbonna, 36 years young, pulls on a Watford shirt for the first time after his summer move from West Ham.
Manchester City: Ortega, Walker, Stones, Braithwaite, Lewis, McAtee, O’Reilly, Matheus Luiz, Grealish, Foden, Doku.
Subs: Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Gvardiol, Akanji, Savio, Wright.
Watford: Bond, Ogbonna, Porteous, Morris, Larouci, Ince, Louza, Sema, Baah, Ebosele, Bayo.
Subs: Marriott, Pollock, Chakvetadze, Vata, Dwomoh, Tikvic, Doumbia, Dele-Bashiru, Adu-Poku.
Referee: David Webb (County Durham).
Tonight’s City team! 🩵
XI | Ortega Moreno, Walker (C), Stones, Braithwaite, Lewis, O’Reilly, Nunes, McAtee, Doku, Grealish, Foden
SUBS | Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Akanji, Savinho, Wright#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/eHQcoJHLJr
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 24, 2024
Team news: Chelsea v Barrow
Chelsea go League Cup to the max, changing their entire starting XI. Ben Chilwell, who had been expected to leave the club during the summer, is in the squad for the first time this season.
Barrow are top of League Two with five wins from their first seven matches. They’ve made it to Stamford Bridge after beating Port Vale and Derby County in the first two rounds.
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Gusto, Disasi, Badiashile, Veiga, Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Mudryk, Nkunku.
Subs: Bettinelli, Colwill, Chilwell, Acheampong, Chukwuemeka, Fernandez, George, Washington, Guiu.
Barrow: Farman, Feely, Vassell, Stokes, Jackson, Campbell, Foley, Newby, Spence, Acquah, Garner.
Subs: Stanway, Canavan, Tiensia, Eccleston, Worrall, Kouyate, Dallas, Weston, Telford.
Referee: Oliver Langford (W Midlands).
Preamble
Another four third-round League Cup ties tonight, then. It should have been five, but …
… and so what we’re left with is this.
They all kick off at 7.45pm BST, except the Wycombe-Villa match, which gets going at 8pm. All the goals as they go in, coming your way.
