Home » Manchester United will learn Carabao Cup semi final opponents tonight

Manchester United will learn Carabao Cup semi final opponents tonight

by Conner Botterill

Manchester United secured their place in the first domestic semi-final of the season, after comfortably dispatching Charlton Athletic at Old Trafford last night.

United produced an assured display to see off the League One side, putting their name in the hat for the last four.

Antony opened the scoring with a wonderful curling effort, before Marcus Rashford came off the bench to hit a late brace and stretch his home scoring run to a record breaking eight games.

United will find out their opponent for the semi-final after the completion of the outstanding quarter final ties later tonight, expected around 21:45 GMT.

Newcastle are the one confirmed potential opponent for United, having dispatched Leicester City by two goals to nil at St. James’s Park.

Tonight sees Manchester City travel to struggling Southampton and Nottingham Forest entertain Wolves in what looks like the most favourable semi-final opponents, on paper.

The first of the two legged semi-final will be played midweek on the week commencing 22nd January, with the deciding leg taking place the week after.

The two fixtures add to United’s already chaotic schedule, with Ten Hag’s men facing three games a week for the majority of the next couple of months.

The United boss rested key players last night and will have been grateful to see his chosen eleven do enough to get past Charlton unscathed.

The League Cup now represents a very real opportunity for Ten Hag to put silverware on the table at his first attempt, a feat only achieved by Jose Mourinho in the post Ferguson era, winning the same competition in 2017.

A repeat of that final against Southampton is still a possibility but it would be a huge surprise to see the Saints progress tonight, given City’s affiliation with the competition.

Guardiola’s men have had a vice-like grip on the League Cup in recent years, winning four of the last five.

However, despite them once again being favourites, something is building at Old Trafford and Ten Hag will be desperate to use a League Cup as a springboard for further success at the club.

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