League Cup semi-final draw: Manchester City to play Everton

The schedule for the weekend has Manchester City opening up with Stoke, while Man United and West Ham will be part of the 10 am ET slate.

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini will not be rushed into signing another striker in January despite an ongoing injury crisis which threatens his side’s increasingly hectic campaign.

Credit: GETTY IMAGESManchester City and Liverpool are the favourites with bookmakers to win the Capital One Cup having been kept apart in the semi-final draw.

Pellegrini also spoke of the importance of being near or at the top of the Premier League in December and January. “Hopefully we can shock one or two because the lads have enough confidence in their ability to play any team at any time”.

“Of course I knew all about his quality, this was not a problem, but I had not seen it live in a stadium in such an important game”.

Pellegrini has been left reeling by a succession of injuries to key players this season that threaten to derail his chances of landing silverware.

That means the possibility still remains that Jurgen Klopp’s first Merseyside derby could be the League Cup final, though it would require Everton to upset the odds against favourites Manchester City.

Kompany has struggled with injuries in recent seasons and Pellegrini said: “I hope that after this injury he can have a normal season but you never know what will happen”.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Pellegrini said, “I always say that this team, we don’t depend on just one or two players”.

“It will be a tough against an important team”.

“It was also important for Bony to play for 65 minutes after he only recovered from a muscle injury a few days before Saturday”. “His ability to change games in City’s favour is there for everybody to see and he’s done it on so many occasions”.

“I am so happy with the position we are in at this moment in every competition”.

“They’ll replace injured players with £25m players”, he said.

Versatile defender Marc Muniesa is back in full training and Ryan Shawcross is free from the suspension, but both Peter Odemwingie and Shay Given are missing again with respective hamstring and knee injuries.

Since the start of last season, De Bruyne has supplied 26 assists – which is more than Lionel Messi or Mesut Ozil and is superior to any other player in Europe’s major divisions.