Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the EFL Cup semi-final second leg between Burton Albion and Manchester City at the Pirelli Stadium.
The first leg of this tie saw Man City run riot over their League One opponents, with Gabriel Jesus scoring four goals in a 9-0 drubbing.
Burton will attempt to salvage some pride on their own turf tonight, though, having already beaten Premier League opposition here this season.
Make sure you don't miss a moment of the action courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
They say that anything can happen in football, but I think we can safely rule out any possibility of a Burton comeback in this tie tonight following their 9-0 drubbing in the first leg earlier this month. It does not diminish the size of Burton's achievement making it this far, though, and they will look to salvage some pride against what is expected to be a depleted Man City side tonight.
Speaking of the team news, let's have a look at it...
SUBS: Grimshaw, Stones, Mendy, Jesus, F Nmecha, Bolton, Richards
SUBS: Bywater, Brayford, Buxton, Sbarra, Fox, Hutchinson, Daniel
Chief among them are Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, the latter of whom leads the line as Gabriel Jesus - scorer of four goals in the reverse fixture - only makes it to the bench. Jesus will not be too upset by that, though, as it suggests that he may be involved in the FA Cup this weekend instead.
The Belgian opened the scoring in the first leg and has now contributed to 13 goals in his 13 League Cup appearances for City, scoring nine and creating four more.
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The fact that the champions were able to spend £60m on a second-string player last summer is perhaps the best indication in the gulf between these two sides, and it is no surprise that Burton were no helpless to compete in the first leg.
In fairness to Danilo too, he has been starting ahead of Walker, Zinchenko and Delph recently and opened the scoring during the weekend with over Huddersfield, albeit with a deflected effort.
There is also a notable inclusion on the bench as Benjamin Mendy is included after two months out with a knee injury, and Guardiola will no doubt take this chance to give him some minutes tonight.
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Fraser was forced to come off during the weekend draw with Doncaster due to a knee injury, while Allen has been playing despite an ankle problem in recent weeks and so this is an ideal chance to rest him.
Clough's options are slightly limited, then, and he has made changes from both the weekend and the first leg too in an attempt to keep his side fresh ahead of what is now a much more important game against Bradford at the weekend.
Brayford actually scored both of Burton's goals against Doncaster at the weekend, but has to make do with a place on the bench tonight.
It is an occasion they should enjoy, of course, as Burton will not be in this position often, but it is a lot easier said than done when you find yourself nine goals down and unable to even get near the ball.
In truth, another drubbing looks more likely than that, but regardless of what the aggregate scoreline ends up as, nothing should be taken away from Burton's run to this stage.
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Indeed, for a club that only became a Football League side 10 years ago to be in the last four alongside Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur is a superb feat and the home fans will cherish the run to the semi-finals forever despite what happened in the first leg.
Clough's side have also overcome Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough, having begun their campaign with a 2-1 triumph over Shrewsbury Town, so they are no strangers to upsetting the odds. Any semblance of a recovery in the tie looks impossible, but they can still put in a good showing on the night.
Clough's side sit in mid-table in League One, although even that lofty a position is a little misleading as they are 11 points adrift of the playoff places and only six clear of the relegation zone.
The 9-0 scoreline obviously skews things massively, but it does mean that Burton have now conceded 14 goals in their last three outings, which is the same number as they had shipped in the previous 13.
Clough's side have also won two of their last three home games against Premier League opposition, while Clough himself has only ever lost one of their five such matches in the past.
The hosts will know that the tie is long dead, but if they can shake that off and believe in an upset in tonight's match then we could still be in for something special here.
City lacked their usual zip and intensity for much of the match, particularly in the first half despite Danilo's deflected opener. It took two goals in as many minutes from Sterling and then Sane to finally wrap the points up towards the start of the second half.
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City need only three goals to record the largest aggregate win in League Cup history, with an 11-goal margin having been achieved on five previous occasions.
The last team to both reach and win consecutive finals in this competition were Manchester United in 2008-09 and 2009-10, while Man City are bidding to retain any trophy for the first time in their entire history.
That includes victories over Oxford United, Fulham and Leicester to make it this far, although they did need a penalty shootout to overcome the latter at the King Power Stadium.
The champions have now won back-to-back away games after a wobble on the road in December, during which time they failed to win inside 90 minutes for three games - although that does include their penalty shootout victory in the triumph over Leicester.
Indeed, Guardiola's side have now kept four clean sheets in a row having failed to keep a single one in 11 games before that, while at the other end they have now passed the triple-figure mark for goals scored across all competitions - more than any other team in Europe's top five leagues.
Man City will have the chance to put more pressure on Jurgen Klopp's side over the next couple of weeks as they play before the Reds, but Liverpool have shown few signs of wilting under that pressure so far.
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Burton should put up a better fight tonight at home against a weaker Man City side, but it is still hard to see past an away win. Should the floodgates open again then there is the possibility it could run into double figures.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Burton 0-5 Man City
Gabriel Jesus was the star of the show with four goals, while De Bruyne, Zinchenko, Foden, Walker and Mahrez all weighed in with goals too.
Strange as it might sound, Nigel Clough may have been pretty happy with how his side were performing in the opening half an hour, but it was after that that City truly let loose with the goals.
The main target for the hosts tonight is to score a goal, which would send the home fans wild, but they will also not want to be on the end of another huge scoreline even if they do manage to get one of their own.
BURTON STARTING XI: Collins; McFadzean, Turner, Akins, Templeton, McCrory, Harness, Miller, Wallace, Quinn, Boyce
MAN CITY STARTING XI: Muric; Danilo, Sandler, Garcia, Zinchenko; Delph, Foden, De Bruyne; Poveda, Mahrez, Aguero
1-0 to Man City.
Burton now need 11 goals. But they are playing at home so have the advantage. 👍#WeBelieveInBurton pic.twitter.com/o67HJBlsYc— Soccer AM (@SoccerAM) January 23, 2019
.@aguerosergiokun scores his 5th goal in his last 6 League Cup semi-final apps
Scored against 54 of the 59 teams he has played against for @ManCity pic.twitter.com/Ok27hOTzXt— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) January 23, 2019
Bruuu its good to watch those freezing games at home I understand Mendy now 🥶🥶😅— Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) January 23, 2019
The holders were four up by this stage in the first leg, as well as registering 14 more shots on target, but Burton have held their own for much of this match so far. The aggregate score has gone to 10, but the hosts will be pretty content with how they have performed so far.
De Bruyne and Mahrez - City's two other real stars on the field - combined to create the chance as De Bruyne released Mahrez through and the latter teed up Aguero for the finish.
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Mahrez will feel as though he should have a goal to his name having put two good chances wide of the far post, both of which seemed perfectly set up for him.
That is the home side's only shot on target, but they have had the odd sight of goal which will encourage them to believe that they may at least be able to score tonight. Indeed, as long as the deficit remains one then even avoiding defeat is not out of the question.
Sergio Aguero got the only goal of the game for Pep Guardiola's side, though, who will now attempt to retain the trophy at Wembley on February 24 against either Tottenham or Chelsea. They will find out their opponents tomorrow!
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's contest as Man City confirm their place in the EFL Cup final despite a spirited display from Burton Albion. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!