sport news Seven things to look out for in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals trends now

The Carabao Cup has thrown up some intriguing ties as eight teams battle to make it to the semi-final stage of the competition.

Arguably the two favourites to lift the trophy, Man City and Manchester United, have avoided each other and have received favourable draws going into their derby on Saturday.

Other teams have huge chances to put themselves within touching distance of a rare cup final.

Sportsmail takes a look at some of the things you should look out for in this weeks' quartet of games.

Erik ten Hag set to ring in the changes 

Manchester United could move within a point of rivals City with a victory in the derby this weekend, and therefore Ten Hag is expected to rest a number of key players when they play Charlton on Tuesday night.

In what is a match they are heavily expected to win, the likes of in-form Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro will likely be dropped to the bench. 

Youngsters Alejandro Garnacho and Anthony Elanga are almost guaranteed a place in the starting line-up.

Jack Butland is likely to make his debut after he was signed to replace Martin Dubravka who was called back from his loan by Newcastle.

Keeping his players fresh will be important for Ten Hag, who if they beat Charlton, will have played nine matches by the end of January.

Their opponents this weekend are also expected to keep their main starts, including Erling Haaland, out of the line-up.

Charlton aim for upset amid off-pitch uncertainty

The biggest shock of this season's Carabao Cup would come if Charlton are able to upset the odds and beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.

There is a big prize on offer for the side who are 12th in League One, as the club have not reached a semi-final in a major tournament since they won the FA Cup in 1947.

Charlton's last away at Old Trafford was in 1986 when Mark Stuart scored the only goal, and prior to that, there only successes at the famous stadium were both in the 1930s.  

The match comes at a time when rumours have been circulating that Danish owner Thomas Sandgaard is looking to sell the club.

As reported by the Guardian, Sandgaard is aiming to sell 80% of his shares for £11million - though they do not include the freeholds for the Valley or the club's Sparrows Lane training ground.

Both of those are owned by previous club owner Roland Duchatelet, with the Belgian charging the club £500,000-a-season to rent their home and training ground.  

Sandgaard's initial hope had been to bring all the sections of the club under his ownership though the financial impact of the pandemic has created more problems than he thought.

As reported by BBC, he said: 'It is no more difficult than I expected; it is just taking longer.

'Getting into it, right in the middle of Covid, delayed the things by between a year and 18 months in terms of getting into the meat of it.

'It is a long process. I have spent two and a half years primarily turning things around at the club. Most of that has been internal. We have changed a lot of things, not just on the football side but the business side too. There is still one, if not two seasons before we can say that things have been turned around.'

Newcastle look to reach their first semi-final in 18 years

Newcastle fans are growing tired of waiting for their team to win a trophy.

Their 54-year wait since their last piece of major silverware is well known, but the truth is that they have not come anywhere close to winning a trophy for the last 18 years.

The last time they even reached a semi-final was in 2005 when Manchester United beat them 4-1 to advance to the final.

Eddie Howe has done a brilliant job since he came in at St James' Park last season, but winning a trophy with the Magpies would automatically cement his legacy at the club.

The likes of Kevin Keegan, Sir Bobby

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