MK Dons v Liverpool, Manchester United v Rochdale: Carabao Cup – live!

Another save at MK Dons and this time it’s Kelleher who stops the home side getting a foothold in the game! More accurately Bowery hits his leg with a header, with the keeper knowing very little about it, but for a moment there that looked a certain goal.

A low cross from the right, and the simplest of tap-ins by Matt Taylor at the far post!

Liverpool hit the post! Oxlade-Chamberlain slams in a vicious low 30-yard screamer, which is touched onto the woodwork by the keeper!

The lights are back on at the Pirelli Stadium, where Burton are insisting it’s not their fault, and that the entire town has been plunged into darkness (though their own scoreboard, strangely, was not).

Incredible Rochdale miss at Old Trafford! They work the ball to the byline, square it to Camps, four yards out, and even though he doesn’t make good contact it still took phenomenal reactions for Wan-Bissaka to hook it clear!

Another Milner assist! From the left wing he lifts the ball to the back stick, where Hoever steams in, outjumps everyone else by a massive margin, and thumps in a super header!

Meanwhile at Burton the lights come back on, the players come back out, the match restarts and, two minutes later, the floodlights fail again!

Brighton pull one back! It’s a corner from the right, turned in from the edge of the six-yard box!

That was Oxford’s first shot on target. West Ham immediately bring on Haller, and very nearly go two down!

A free kick is tossed into the area, headed across goal, passed around a bit – all this inside the penalty area – crossed back in, and Elliott Moore controls, turns, and surprises the goalkeeper with an early shot that rolls inside the far post!

That’s Chelsea home and hosed! Barkley takes a free-kick short, and the ball is crossed from the right wing. I think Grimsby’s No4, Davis, could have dealt with it but he tried to usher the ball across the area to safety and Zouma punished him by flicking out a boot and diverting it in!

Floodlight failure! It’s all gone very dark at Burton, where the home side lead Bournemouth 1-0 but, more importantly, need an electrician sharpish.

It’s not all goalkeeping howlers: Villa’s Trezeguet has just been denied by a miracle save from Brighton’s Button!

“Someone, for the love of God, make these United players do some rondos in training,” pleads Souradeep Sengupta. “This is punishing to watch even for hardened fans.”

The half-time whistle has now gone at Old Trafford, where Manchester United are being held to a goalless draw with Rochdale. Meanwhile, the other games have all restarted.

Five minutes to go until half-time in Paris, and Paris Saint-Germain are 1-0 down to Reims.

Here are all the key half-time scores:

Carabao Cup

Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Aston Villa
Burton Albion 1-0 Bournemouth
Chelsea 3-1 Grimsby Town
Manchester United 0-0 Rochdale (still playing there)
MK Dons 0-1 Liverpool
Oxford United 0-0 West Ham United
Sheffield United 0-1 Sunderland
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Reading

Scottish League Cup

Celtic 1-0 Partick Thistle
Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Aberdeen
Kilmarnock 0-0 Aberdeen
Livingston 0-1 Rangers

Chance for Manchester United! It’s a Greenwood cross from the right that floats onto the head of Pogba, on the edge of the six-yard box, with the keeper leaden-footed at the front stick, but his header floats high!

“Any word on the Man Utd game? The Guardian article headline says you are covering it,” wonders Douglas Thiel. Er, no news is good news, right? I can tell you that United have had two shots on target, and Rochdale none. United have just won a corner, though. It is their first of the game.

Pedro scores from the spot! As a corner is sent into the area Zouma is blocked at its edge and tumbles, the referee is about two yards away and points to the spot, and Pedro sends the keeper the wrong way! Ross Barkley’s time as designated penalty taker, if it ever existed, appears to be over.

Another howler! James Milner, from precisely on the line at the edge of the area, on the left-hand corner, blasts a vicious shot straight at the goalkeeper, who tries to catch it but fails and it skews over his right shoulder and into the net, despite the keeper’s desperate attempt to claw it away!

Villa double their lead at the Amex, Hourihane smartly converting a straightforward chance after being teed up by Keinan Davis, whose lungbusting run down the left and into the area was very fine.

“Given Liverpool have raided their academy for tonight’s game v MK, who’s playing in the Checkatrade Trophy match at Fleetwood? The U11s?” wonders Graeme Thorn. Yes, plenty of debuts there as well.

That’s a goalkeeping howler! Bruno Jordao’s shot is hard enough, but it’s from crazy distance and straight at the keeper, who inexplicably fumbles it in!

Another chance for Liverpool! After Milner laid one on a plate for Elliott, this time Elliott lifts the ball into the area and Milner, from just inside the corner of the six-yard box, heads across goal and wide!

Oxford hit the West Ham woodwork! It’s a free-kick from 20 yards or so, which is lifted over the wall but not quite into the net!

A hard, low cross from the left is palmed out by the goalkeeper but it goes straight to Jota, who controls and then pummels a low shot into the net!

After conceding twice in the opening minutes Grimsby have managed to slow the Chelsea goal train, and now they’re back in the game! It’s an assist from the goalkeeper, and the ball bounces through to Matt Green who volleys an absolute cracker into the top corner from just inside the area!

Burton take the lead! It’s a cross from the left, and Sarkic times his run from deep perfectly to meet the ball just as it drops to earth, and he thunders a low half-volley into the net!

Incredible miss from Liverpool! Milner does excellently, cutting in from the left, and his low pul-back finds Elliott at the far post, and with another yawning net to aim at he hits the bar!

Chance for MK Dons! Hesitation from the keeper, who could surely have claimed the ball and ended the move, and instead it’s pulled back to McGrandles, who shoots over an empty net!

Max Power by name, max power by nature! It’s a 20-yarder, and it flies into the top left corner! I think, to be fair, that it was probably only 80% power.

And another one! It’s a low ball from the right that arrives behind Batshuayi, but he controls, spins and shoots into the top corner!

Chelsea take an early lead! Barkley picks up the ball 10 yards outside the area, with a defender in front of him. So he runs around his opponent, spies empty space in front of him, keeps going into the box and then scores with a low shot inside the near post!

Out they come now, holding the hands of some lucky young pups who look all kinds of cute in their matchday kits. Yes, it’s the mascots!

Matt Dony writes: “I hadn’t thought about that Beautiful South song, but I am quite confident that, should injuries affect Liverpool’s backline, Hoever should be able to fill a defensive vacuum.”

Here’s a good stat. Well, two good stats.

And the teams for tonight’s one all-Premier League encounter:

Brighton: Button, Roberts, Duffy, Bong, Archie Davies, Baluta, Jenks, Cochrane, Richards, Connolly, Gwargis. Subs: Steele, Jordan Davies, O’Hora, Radulovic, Yapi, Spong, Longman.
Aston Villa: Steer, Elmohamady, Konsa, Hause, Targett, McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Hourihane, Jota, Davis, Trezeguet. Subs: Wesley, Grealish, El Ghazi, Guilbert, Nyland, Mings, Ramsey.
Referee: Graham Scott.

Axel Tuanzabe captains Manchester United at Old Trafford:

Man Utd: Romero, Wan Bissaka, Tuanzebe, Jones, Rojo, Fred, Pogba, Andreas Pereira, Lingard, Chong, Greenwood. Subs: Lindelof, Mata, Grant, James, Garner, McTominay, Williams.
Rochdale: Sanchez, Matheson, Morley, McNulty, Norrington-Davies, Dooley, Williams, Rathbone, Camps, Keohane, Henderson. Subs: Andrew, Lynch, Wilbraham, Ryan, Bradley, Tavares, Thomas.
Referee: John Brooks.

Team news from the Pirelli Stadium:

Burton Albion: O’Hara, Akins, O’Toole, Nartey, Hutchinson, Edwards, Wallace, Fraser, Broadhead, Boyce, Sarkic. Subs: Buxton, Templeton, Anderson, Beardsley, Dyer, Livesey, Sbarra.
Bournemouth: Travers, Francis, Mepham, Simpson, Kelly, Lewis Cook, Surman, Kilkenny, Ibe, Fraser, Solanke. Subs: Callum Wilson, Danjuma, Harry Wilson, Dobre, Camp, Dennis, Jordan.
Referee: John Busby.

The Chelsea team in full. And Grimsby’s:

Chelsea: Caballero, James, Guehi, Zouma, Alonso, Gilmour, Barkley, Pulisic, Pedro, Hudson-Odoi, Batshuayi. Subs: Jorginho, Abraham, Mount, Tomori, Cumming, Anjorin, Maatsen.
Grimsby: McKeown, Hewitt, Hendrie, Pollock, Davis, Gibson, Clifton, Hessenthaler, Whitehouse, Green, Hanson. Subs: Cook, Robson, Rose, Vernam, Wright, Ogbu, Russell.
Referee: Keith Stroud.

This just in from Molineux:

Wolverhampton: Ruddy, Vallejo, Bennett, Kilman, Doherty, Bruno Jordao, Neves, Ruben Vinagre, Gibbs-White, Pedro Neto, Cutrone. Subs: Sanderson, Rui Patricio, Coady, Perry, Joao Moutinho, Shabani, Cundle.
Reading: Virginia, Howe, McIntyre, Miazga, Richards, Blackett, Barrett, Adam, Rinomhota, Meite, Boye. Subs: Walker, Baldock, Swift, Ejaria, Olise, Osho, Puscas.
Referee: Peter Bankes.

Team news from Bramall Lane:

Sheffield Utd: Moore, Jagielka, Stearman, Bryan, Kieron Freeman, Luke Freeman, Besic, Morrison, Osborn, Robinson, Mousset. Subs: Stevens, Fleck, Basham, McBurnie, Norwood, Verrips, Clarke.
Sunderland: Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Flanagan, Lynch, De Bock, McGeouch, Power, Maguire, O’Nien, Embleton, Wyke. Subs: Dobson, Grigg, Leadbitter, Hume, Patterson, Taylor, Connelly.
Referee: Tim Robinson.

Here’s a quick Carabao Cup changeometer:

Liverpool 11
Chelsea 11
Sheffield United 10
Wolverhampton Wanderers 10
West Ham United 9
Manchester United 9
Aston Villa 9

Top rainbow action at Burton tonight:

Meanwhile in Oxford:

Oxford Utd: Eastwood, Long, Dickie, Moore, Ruffels, Hall, Brannagan, Thorne, Baptiste, Forde, Mackie. Subs: Taylor, Woodburn, Fosu, Stevens, Sykes, Agyei, Jones.
West Ham: Roberto, Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku, Sanchez, Snodgrass, Wilshere, Fornals, Holland, Ajeti. Subs: Fabianski, Cresswell, Felipe Anderson, Noble, Goncalo Cardoso, Haller, Coventry.
Referee: Robert Jones.

Here are the full line-ups from Milton Keynes, where Liverpool win the team-change tally 11-5:

Milton Keynes Dons: Moore, Williams, Poole, Walsh, Brittain, Kasumu, McGrandles, Gilbey, Dickenson, Bowery, Nombe. Subs: Nicholls, Lewington, Agard, Martin, Houghton, Boateng, Harley.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Hoever, Lovren, Gomez, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Keita, Elliott, Brewster, Jones. Subs: Lonergan, Chirivella, van den Berg, Longstaff, Kane, Lewis, Clarkson.
Referee: Oliver Langford.

Hello world!

Last night Tottenham tasted the vile brew that is League Cup humiliation. Tonight Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United will be desperately attempting to avoid a similar fate. The first and last of those are at home, which coupled with having much better players should give them enough of an advantage over their lower-league opposition, though stranger things have definitely happened. Liverpool meanwhile are expected to field an entire classroom of youngsters in Milton Keynes, with Rhian Brewster, Caomhin Kelleher, Curtis Jones, Sepp van den Berg, Yasser Larouci and Ki-Jana Hoever among the teenaged wizards jostling for a place on the team sheet.

I know what you’re thinking: Hoever? Didn’t the Beautiful South write a song for him?

Anyway, and without further ado, here are tonight’s Carabao Cup fixtures (all 7.45pm BST kick-offs):

Brighton & Hove Albion v Aston Villa
Burton Albion v Bournemouth
Chelsea v Grimsby Town
Manchester United v Rochdale (8pm)
MK Dons v Liverpool
Oxford United v West Ham United
Sheffield United v Sunderland
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Reading

There are also some Scottish League Cup quarter-finals:

Celtic v Partick Thistle
Heart of Midlothian v Aberdeen
Kilmarnock v Aberdeen
Livingston v Rangers

Plus Real Madrid host Osasuna in La Liga at 8pm, the same time that Paris Saint-Germain host Reims and six Serie A matches will get under way, with Napoli and Internazionale, who will overtake Juventus to go top should they beat Lazio at home, among the teams in action.

All in all, it should be a busy night. Welcome!