Carabao Cup holders Manchester City will face Fulham at the Etihad Stadium in the fourth round of this season’s competition after the draw was made tonight.
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Guardiola’s side easily defeated the Cottagers 3-0 when they visited the Etihad earlier this season but this time the game will come sandwiched between important Premier League against Spurs and Southampton scheduled just five days apart in one of the busiest periods of the season.
City and Tottenham will have a severe case of fixture congestion after qualifying for the draw following third round victories over Oxford United and Watford respectively.
City have a rescheduled show-down with Spurs at Wembley on the Monday, with a 3pm Saturday kick off against Southampton looming, while Mauricio Pochettino’s side have a Saturday evening trip to Wolverhampton with a 7.45pm kick off.
The question over which day both City and Spurs will play their subsequent Carabao Cup fixtures will be answered in the coming days but a possible Thursday evening fixture for either club can’t be ruled out.
The draw also pulled out an emotional return to Stamford Bridge for Frank Lampard as the ex-City player – and Chelsea legend – will take his Derby County side to London to face his former club.
The Rams made headlines on Tuesday as they dumped Manchester United out of the Cabarao Cup after a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw in normal time leaving the pressure mounting on United boss Jose Mourinho who recorded the Reds’ worst start to the season in 29 years with 10 points in seven games and a worse goal difference than David Moyes’ ill-fated season in charge.
Carabao Cup Fourth-round draw 2018/19
Manchester City vs Fulham
Bournemouth vs Norwich City
Arsenal vs Blackpool
Leicester City vs Everton or Southampton
West Ham vs Tottenham
Middlesbrough vs Crystal Palace
Chelsea vs Derby County
Burton Albion vs Nottingham Forest
Ties to be played in the week commencing Monday October 29.