Manuel Pellegrini’s enthusiasm for the League Cup is well known after claiming the trophy at Manchester City.
And he’s on the record as saying it is important to him as the club looks to end it’s wilderness years in domestic Cup competitions.
But as he goes into Wednesday night’s clash with Spurs – despite several injuries – he looks able to put out a powerful team as he bids to advance in this season’s competition.
He has the advantage of knowing that Spurs come to the London Stadium just 48 hours after having faced Manchester City at Wembley and probably with a much changed team.
Mark Noble starts his three match ban following yesterday’s red card but Pedro Obiang looks certain to return with the midfield likely to include himself, Rice, Diangana and Snodgrass.
There are no problems at the back where the boss has the luxury of deciding on whether to rest Zaba for Ryan Fredericks and sticking with Diop, Balbuena and either Cresswell or Masuaku.
Further forward – should Arnautovic still be suffering from a virus – he has the choice of Anderson, Chicharito and Antonio and we are told there is a remote chance that Carroll could be on the bench.
The last thing in the world we want is to lose back to back games against the Spuds so the boss has a few hard decisions to make as he settles on his team selection.
Here’s how we see the likely team: Adrian; Fredericks, Diop, Balbuena, Masuaku; Snodgrass, Rice, Diangana, Obiang, Anderson and Antonio
This is the first season where suspensions are competition specific, therefore his ban is not applicable for the Carabao Cup. One imagines that, as Mark will have a two week holiday from Burnley on, on he will play should the boss see fit.
Changes this season will see yellow cards only counting in the competition they are received. Red cards will continue to count across all competitions.