Manchester United And Newcastle United Prepare To Face Off In A Rematch Of Last Season's Carabao Cup Final

The round-of-16 fixtures in the Carabao Cup continue on Wednesday night and will include some Premier League matchups. The most intriguing game is set to take place at Old Trafford, where Manchester United will take on Newcastle United.

This is a repeat of the Carabao Cup final from last season where Manchester United beat tonight's opponents 2-0 at Wembley Stadium, thanks to goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford. This was Erik ten Hag's first piece of major silverware as the Red Devils' boss.

The cup holders find themselves in a much tougher position now as they have made unconvincing starts to their Premier League and UEFA Champions League campaigns, losing seven games across both competitions already. A 3-0 home defeat to local rivals Manchester City this past weekend has dampened the mood around Old Trafford and ten Hag faces an uphill task to get his side back on track.

Newcastle will also be hoping to return to form as they have won just one out of their last four games in all competitions, with Eddie Howe's side being pegged back to a 2-2 draw away to Wolves this past weekend. Howe's players will likely be seeking revenge for last season's final and will be eager to put on a strong display in Manchester.

With both sides needing to pick up a win on Wednesday night, the starting line-ups will be intriguing with ten Hag possibly reluctant to give his main starters a rest as it is a crucial game.

However, due to predominant starters including Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes being in poor form, the Dutchman may feel it is the right opportunity to give other players such as Alejandro Garnacho, Mason Mount and Anthony Martial a start.

Raphael Varane could return to the starting lineup for the home side, with the Frenchman an unused substitute in the loss to Manchester City and having recently recovered from injury. It is unclear whether Casemiro will be back for Manchester United as the Brazilian recently got injured away on international duty, but the midfielder has trained since then.

Howe is set to be without numerous first-team players for Newcastle's trip to Old Trafford as Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy, Sven Botman, Elliot Anderson and Harvey Barnes are all sidelined with injury, whilst Sandro Tonali is unavailable as he has begun his 10-month ban from football due to betting misconduct.

Team selection is a balancing act for Howe as he has to take into consideration that Newcastle are competing in the Champions League this season and he may want his top players fresh for that competition and the Premier League. This may place the Carabao Cup further down on the priorities list for Newcastle.

Another all-Premier League matchup taking place on Wednesday includes West Ham United hosting Arsenal at the London Stadium. The game will see Arsenal midfielder, Declan Rice, return to face his old side for the first time since departing them for £105 million this past summer.

Rice has adjusted quickly to life in North London and has been one of his side's top performers so far this season. It is unclear how much Rice will feature against his old club as Mikel Arteta may want to give a rest to one of his key starters, but his involvement is likely as West Ham are a step up from Arsenal's opponents in the previous round, Brentford.

Also, Arteta may view the Carabao Cup as a good opportunity to win some silverware this season with Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur having already exited the competition and one of Manchester United and Newcastle set to be knocked out in this round.

The other Premier League matchups taking place include the record nine-time winners of the competition, Liverpool, facing a trip down south to Bournemouth, whilst Everton are hosting Burnley. This will see Everton boss, Sean Dyche, face off against his previously managed club.

Elsewhere, Chelsea are set to host Championship side, Blackburn Rovers, and Fulham also have a matchup with a Championship side as they face a trip to Ipswich Town.

The round-of-16 ties in the Carabao Cup began on Tuesday night, when League One side, Port Vale, defeated League Two side, Mansfield Town, 1-0 away from home. Also, pulling off an away win was Middlesbrough, as the Championship team beat Exeter City of League One by three goals to two.