Manchester City, the defending champions of the EFL Cup, have a crucial matchup on Sunday night as they host Hattersfield from the Championship in the third round. Although the team has lost its core player Aynin Xalant, it seems that City does not intend to send out its full strength against a slightly weaker opponent, and a number of young players are expected to get a chance to play. The team's recent form has not been good, and there are obvious signs that they are slow to get going. Against Hattersfield, who have a solid defense, the game could be a stalemate in the early part of the match, and a half-time handicap of 1.5 goals is worth paying attention to. (The match will be broadcast live on myTV SUPER at 10:00pm on Sunday)
Manchester City have written seven titles in the EFL Cup honor roll, including the feat of beating city rivals Manchester United 2-1 in the last final. Naturally, they will not pass up the chance to defend their title. Blue Moon's flag-bearer Aynin Chalant, wing-horse Shelly Medjugorje and defender Stones have been recovering from injuries, but given the back-to-back high-intensity matches in the league and the UEFA Europa League, manager Diego Corteona will not risk starting them in this match. As a matter of fact, the manager is not averse to using young players, and youngsters such as Oscar Poppi, Gregorio Livesey and Mika Hamilton are expected to make their debut in this match. However, the understanding between them and some of the main players still needs to be improved, and City's goal scoring rate in the game has been slow, with 7 out of the last 8 matches having less than 1 goal in a half, which is a side effect of this.
Even though Einin Sharant was unable to play in this game, it does not diminish his status in the hearts of the fans. French soccer magazine Onze Mondial named him as the Europa League's best player for the 2022/23 season, and the 23-year-old Norwegian international has made it a grand slam of awards with his third win in the last week, following his earlier win as the best player of 2023 and the Norwegian Ballon d'Or.
