THE CARABAO Cup is reaching a thrilling finale, and the semi-final draw has taken place.
Manchester United and Newcastle booked their places in the semi-final draw with wins over Charlton and Leicester in the quarter-finals.
While Man City fell to defeat at Southampton, with Nottingham Forest beating Wolves on penalties to seal their fate!
And now Southampton host Newcastle in the first leg of the semi-final while Man Utd travel to Nottingham for their last-4 clash.
- FULL DRAW: Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd, Southampton vs Newcastle
- TV: Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Football
- Live Stream: Sky Sports Football’s YouTube channel
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Keep up to date with the draw with our LIVE blog below…
Goodnight, football fans
There you have it, the last-4 has been decided and we know who plays who next.
- Southampton vs Newcastle United
- Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United
We’re straight back into Premier League action tomorrow as Chelsea travel to Fulham, and we’ll keep you up to date with our live blog ahead of the clash.
Pep Guardiola: The better team won
Pep Guardiola has congratulated Nathan Jones and Southampton.
“The better team won,” he said. “They deserve to be in the semi-finals. They were better than us.
“We were not ready to play an away game in England. We didn’t have a good process.”
Reminder of the draw:
- Southampton vs Newcastle
- Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United
Ilkay Gundogan on what went wrong
Ilkay Gundogan is speaking to Sky and he believes Man City were not good enough against Southampton.
“We were not aggressive enough,” he said. “Didn’t win duels. Gave them too many opportunities to play.
“A lot of mistakes, missed a lot of passes, gave them the ball too easily.”
When next?
The semi-final first legs will take place on the week commencing January 23.
The return matches are played in the following week as we will find out who faces off in the Wembley final.
Can Henderson face United?
According to the EFL, Manchester United must give written consent for Dean Henderson to play against them for Nottingham Forest in the semi-final.
Rule 6.3 states: “Players registered on a temporary basis will not be eligible to play unless the Club holding his full registration gives its written consent.”
We’ve seen Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount face Chelsea in the competition while on loan at Derby in the past.
Dean Henderson caught in two minds?
Dean Henderson’s on-loan side Forest will face his parent club Manchester United.
The goalkeeper left on loan for game time and has been in fine form for the club this season.
With David De Gea out of contract at the end of the season, Henderson may have an eye on a return to Old Trafford.
But he’ll want to leave Nottingham with a winners medal in the League Cup, no matter who it upsets.
Can Forest do the impossible?
Steve Cooper’s main goal for this season was, and no doubt still is, to remain in the Premier League.
But now they have one eye on the League Cup. Two good performances against Man Utd will see them at Wembley.
Time to dream?
Nathan Jones on Southampton win
Nathan Jones continues with his rather odd post-match press conference.
When asked how he’ll celebrate beating Manchester City, he continued to hit back at Southampton fans by saying: “I’ll have 20 seconds with one glass of wine. At least I won’t get any abuse on the way home.”
More from Nathan Jones
Very philosophical from Nathan Jones, who is hitting back at his critics.
“I’ve only just been in the job,” he explained.
“I had three Premier League games. I’m not David Blane. I understand the frustrations but we are building. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was a wonderful Southampton side.”
He was then asked about his players being booed in recent weeks, to which he replied: “They haven’t been booed as much as I have.”
Nathan Jones reaction
Southampton boss Nathan Jones watched on as the draw was made and shrugged when he saw Newcastle come out of the hat.
After beating Manchester City today, his side will be full of confidence and aware that they can beat anyone on their day.
He told Sky: “I’m really proud of our football club today. It shows we are building something, that’s the important thing.”
Giants to meet in final?
With the draw panning out the way it has, Newcastle and Manchester United have avoided each other.
They are both battling for the top four in the Premier League this season and could meet in a final at Wembley.
Forest and Southampton are also battling each other in the league, both seeking survival in a troubling relegation battle.
We could see them face off in the final. Stranger things have happened.
‘A tough task’
Jill Scott believes that nobody would want to face Newcastle at the moment, stating that the trip to St James’ Park could prove to be tricky for Southampton.
They will hope to go into the second leg with a good result as they host Eddie Howe’s side first.
Full draw
Southampton and Nottingham Forest will host the first leg of their semi-finals.
Newcastle will face the Saints over two legs, with Manchester United travelling to Forest for the first leg.
- Southampton vs Newcastle
- Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United
Second semi-final
Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd
Out first
Southampton vs Newcastle
Ball numbers
- Man Utd – 1
- Newcastle – 2
- Nottingham Forest – 3
- Southampton – 4
Draw UNDERWAY
Here we go.
Nedum Onuoha and Jill Scott are picking the balls out for the draw.
British manager to lift the cup?
Out of the four teams left, three are guided by British-born head coaches.
With the exception of Erik ten Hag, we could see a British coach lift the cup.
Welsh-born Steve Cooper has taken Forest into the last-4, while Eddie Howe has transformed Newcastle.
Also from Wales, Nathan Jones has only been at Southampton for the matter of weeks but he coached a fantastic win against serial winners Man City.
Draw upcoming
Here we go. The semi-final draw is about to get underway.
A quick ad break and we’ll find out who faces who in the final four.
Cup favourites
Manchester United are favourites to lift the Carabao Cup after Man City’s defeat.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are the second favourites, and the two sides could face each other in the semi-final.
Nottingham Forest and Southampton are joint outsiders for the trophy.
James Ward-Prowse: We feel like the old Southampton
Saints captain James Ward-Prowse is full of praise for under-pressure manager Nathan Jones.
He believes that the head coach has got the side back to their best, despite not yet registering a win in the Premier League.
Despite that, they showed fight tonight and are into the last-4 of the Carabao Cup.
Man City embarrassed
Today’s loss saw Manchester City fail to register a shot on target for the first time since April 2018.
However, as pointed out by Sky, they still registered and xG of 1.00 – somehow.
By my count, Julian Alvarez is unlucky to see his ‘shot’ not count as on target.
15 minute warning
Get the kettle on.
You have 15 minutes until the draw takes place, according to Sky.
So here’s your warning, get the cuppa in before the draw starts because with just four teams left, blink and it’ll be over.
Dean Henderson the hero
Dean Henderson pulled off an incredible save to deny Joe Hodges in the penalty shoot-out at the City Ground.
The on-loan goalkeeper could face his parent side Manchester United in the semi-finals.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk