Manchester United are three wins away from claiming back-to-back EFL Cups, but they are in danger of slipping on a banana skin as they take on surprise package Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Wednesday night.
After narrowly escaping relegation from the Championship last season, the Robins find themselves third in the table in the current campaign, and will hope to earn a shock result in their quarter-final clash against Jose Mourinho's side.
Bristol City
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In any other season, facing Manchester United would be a hugely daunting task for a lower-league side, but Bristol City's current form suggests that causing an upset is not beyond them.
In the 2016-17 campaign, the Robins were teetering above relegation after losing eight Championship games in a row across the festive period in December and January.
Manager Lee Johnson managed to turn things around for the club in the closing stages of the season as the team earned four victories and a draw in their final six matches of the campaign.
In the end, City finished 17th in the table, just three points above the bottom three and they have since had a resurgence.
Even though there is still a long way to go in the season, the Robins currently sit four points behind automatic promotion to the Premier League having won 12, drawn seven and lost only three of their 22 games so far.
Johnson's men have claimed seven victories in their last nine league games and are on a four-game winning run heading into Wednesday's cup game against United.
As expected, the Red Devils are overwhelming favourites to progress into the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, but Mourinho's players have struggled to catch the eye in terms of performances.
Recently, the club have sneaked results rather than won convincingly, and that is something that Bristol City can draw confidence from when they welcome United to Ashton Gate.
The Championship side have already ousted Premier League opposition - including Watford, Stoke City and Crystal Palace - from the competition.
Recent form (all competitions): DLWWWW
Manchester United
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On paper, United are having a stellar season having lost just four games in 26 games in all competitions, but Mourinho's men have been overshadowed by their neighbours Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola's side are record-breakers having stretched their winning Premier League run to 16 consecutive matches, which in turn has given them an 11-point advantage at the top of the table.
United are the closest challengers to the prolific team, but it is highly unlikely that they will overtake City in the title race, which means that the EFL Cup, FA Cup and Champions League are the avenues for silverware.
Aside from a few unwanted results, Mourinho's men have been picking up crucial victories, but the team and manager have been criticised for their style of play.
The performances have been less than inspiring and in recent wins over Bournemouth and West Bromwich Albion, United laboured their way to maximum points.
On top of that, Romelu Lukaku has struggled to maintain his goalscoring form having gone through a spell of just one strike in 12 games, but the £75m striker has found the back of the net three times in his last four matches in all competitions.
Despite winning the EFL Cup last season, the North-West outfit will not have this competition high on their list of priorities, which means that Mourinho is likely to make changes to his team.
With the hectic festive schedule fast approaching, the manager is expected to take this game as an opportunity to rest some players.
If United had been drawn against Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester City in the quarter-finals, then Mourinho may not have had the luxury of fielding a second-string team.
Since the start of November, the North-West outfit have managed to keep just two clean sheets in 10 games in all competitions, but scored 18 goals in that time.
Recent form (all competitions): WWWLWW
Team News
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be handed a rare start by Mourinho in order to give Lukaku a rest ahead of the Premier League weekend.
If Paul Pogba had not been serving a domestic ban, the midfielder would probably have sat this game out, but the France international may start to boost his match fitness.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has seemingly been exiled once again by the manager having not featured in the team since the end of November, but the Armenian might be given a chance to prove himself on Wednesday night.
Antonio Valencia is expected to miss out, though, due to a hamstring injury that he suffered against the Baggies, while Eric Bailly is a long-term absentee.
As for Bristol City, Johnson will be without Famara Diedhiou, Gary O'Neil, Jens Hegeler, Ivan Lucic, Eros Pisano and Callum O'Dowda due to injuries.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Fielding; Wright, Flint, Baker, Magnusson; Brownhill, Pack, Smith, Bryan; Paterson; Reid
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Lindelof, Blind; Pogba, McTominay; Mkhitaryan, Mata, Martial; Ibrahimovic
Head To Head
There is very little to go on in terms of previous knockout meetings given that the two clubs have never met before in this competition.
In fact, the last time that these two clubs played one another was in February 1980 when United came out on top in a 4-0 triumph, with Joe Jordan and Sammy McIlroy among the scorers.
Bristol City's Geoff Merrick netted an unfortunate own goal in what was a disappointing day for the Robins.
We say: Bristol City 1-3 Manchester United
The Championship outfit are in a rich vein of form, but they will be missing a handful of first-team members for the visit of United. Even though Mourinho is expected to field some fringe players for the quarter-final, the group should have enough quality to progress into the final four of the EFL Cup.
Danielle Joynson
