Manchester City squad faces strength in depth test against Newcastle in League Cup

27.09.2023 - 07:41 thenationalnews.com

Last season, the most successful of Manchester City’s history, the credit was shared out widely. In the domestic cup competitions, no outfield player started more matches than Aymeric Laporte.

When he held up the FA Cup, he clasped the trophy with a well-earned sense of ownership. Across the English cups, no forward was on the pitch for more minutes than Riyad Mahrez, City’s leading scorer in the FA Cup segment of their treble.

As City travel to Newcastle United to embark on their bid for the one significant piece of silverware, the League Cup, that escaped them in their glorious 2022/23 campaign, a glance back at how senior roles were rotated and spread last time around seems apt.

The League Cup is a platform for studied team changes and, carefully planned, an opportunity for the bigger, busier clubs to give first-team minutes to young talents or those who might feel marginalised.

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