With the Champions League on hiatus until February, football's collective attention will return to domestic cups in midweek. With the Carabao Cup resuming Tuesday at the quarterfinal stage (stream live on ESPN+), ESPN breaks down the final four matchups, including a split Liverpool squad and a Cinderella side in Colchester.
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool (Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2:45 p.m. ET)
Villa key men: Take your pick between the likes of John McGinn, Jack Grealish and the unfairly maligned Wesley. They'll be expected to threaten against a Liverpool side full of teenagers but, having lost five of their past seven league games, might feel a bit of pressure going into a match they are expected to win comfortably. It is certainly the kind of night when you don't want to make a high-profile mistake.
Liverpool key men: Get a search engine up and running when Liverpool announce their starting XI because you might not know many of the names. Liverpool are fielding a second-string side, coached by their under-23 manager Neil Critchley, due to their senior players' commitments in the Club World Cup in Doha. They will play a team for whom, a few short years ago, midweek games on television were a treat if their parents let them stay up. Goal-scoring midfielder Herbie Kane, a success on loan at Doncaster last season, should be among their standouts, and Rhian Brewster will -- if fit -- probably be the biggest name involved. The 16-year-old winger Harvey Elliott looks set to be a star, too. But overall: It is anyone's guess.
Why Villa will win: Because they have been handed this tie on a plate by a piece of scheduling that does nothing for the integrity of the competition. Liverpool have some excellent young players, but the gap between academy football and men's football is vast, as Villa's more battle-hardened stars will doubtless be keen to inform them if they start getting too confident on Tuesday.
Why Liverpool will win: Because the kids are all right! Academy starlets emerge from top-level conveyor belts in such prime condition nowadays that little fazes them. They will go in with nothing to lose and, coursing with the confidence of belonging to a club that can do no wrong from top to bottom these days, go head-to-head with a nervy Villa before causing the shock of the round.
Prediction: Villa's wiser heads to win through -- but not after a wobble. It will finish 4-1.
Everton vs. Leicester City (Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2:45 p.m. ET)
Everton key men: Normally Moise Kean, who has started two of Everton's Carabao Cup wins, might fit this description, but where the young forward stands in Duncan Ferguson's estimation is anyone's guess after his unceremonious substitution -- just 18 minutes after coming on -- against Manchester United on Sunday. He might have a point to prove if he plays. In the meantime, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison have both scored twice in this season's competition to date and should be primed to cause all kinds of trouble again.
Leicester key men: Kelechi Iheanacho might feel Kean's pain. He was hauled off before half-time against Norwich at the weekend, primarily for tactical reasons but also in light of a brawl sparked when he failed to return possession after Leicester's opponents kicked the ball out due to an injury. The Nigeria international had been on good form prior to that, though, and the Carabao Cup had been a worthy stage: He scored against both Luton and Burton in previous rounds.
Why Everton will win: Would you want to upset Ferguson? Everton's caretaker manager has squeezed two big performances out of a struggling side, beating Chelsea and drawing at Old Trafford, and the former Toffees centre-forward's full-blooded goal celebrations have shown exactly what this means. He might not be much longer for the job, with Carlo Ancelotti among those linked with the role on a full-time basis, but a packed house and cup-tie atmosphere on a cold, cracking December night look like exactly the ingredients for "Big Dunc" to inspire his charges into a rousing victory.
Why Leicester will win: There's no reason for the Foxes to panic too much about Saturday's home draw with Norwich. They are a class act, coached to within an inch of their lives by Brendan Rodgers and more than equipped to cut through the thunderstorm Ferguson might like to unleash. Jamie Vardy also has a particular liking for this fixture: He has scored six times in nine appearances against Everton and, given that he scored when the sides met in the league at the King Power Stadium two-and-a-half weeks ago, should feel that he has warmed up for this tie pretty nicely.
Prediction: A fast-paced, seesawing encounter that Leicester just about edge it with a 3-2 win.
Oxford United vs. Manchester City (Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2:45 p.m. ET)
Oxford key men: John Mousinho is just a few letters away from sounding like a much more familiar foe of City and Pep Guardiola, but he is in fact the League One promotion chasers' captain and a vital component of the side. Elsewhere, Tariqe Fosu-Henry is one of the best wingers in the lower divisions, and Cameron Brannagan, a former Liverpool midfield schemer, also has few peers in his position and has recovered from a knee injury. Matty Taylor is a practised goal poacher who could sniff out City's at times catastrophic lack of centre-backs.
City key men: Phil Foden will be champing at the bit to start this one, having scored his first goal for City at this ground last season. But if the Kassam Stadium really is that good a proving ground for bright young things, who might shine this time? Defenders Angelino and Eric Garcia should be involved, and perhaps the forward Ian Poveda will get a game, too. That means whichever senior players start will need to step up, and given that Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez were only substitutes on Sunday at Arsenal, Oxford might have reason to be fearful.
Why Oxford will win: Because City might literally have met their match. Oxford, who sit just outside the third tier's playoffs, are its second-highest scorers and play a possession-based, attacking brand of football that Guardiola would admire under their manager, Karl Robinson. They'll probe and probe away in search of an opening -- and might benefit from a bigger gap in the form of an open end behind one of their goals, which means some almighty gusts of icy wind can make their way in. Pep's boys will need their gloves for this one.
Why City will win: Because anything you can do, they can probably do better. City were back to their dynamic best at the Emirates and should have plenty in reserve to go through the gears if required. If Guardiola's assistant, Mikel Arteta, really is soon to take the Arsenal job, then what better way to say farewell?
Prediction: Oxford to fare a goal better than they did in last season's third round but still fall short here: 3-1 to City.
Manchester United vs. Colchester United (Wednesday, Dec. 18, 3:00 p.m. ET)
Manchester United key men: Sunday's draw with Everton ended up being the Mason Greenwood show, even though the precociously talented striker played only 25 minutes. He scored twice against AZ Alkmaar three days previously after starting the game and, if the recent sequence is anything to go by, should be unleashed from the off against League Two side Colchester. He has already been on target against Rochdale in this competition and will fancy his chances again in what -- judging by United's previous Carabao Cup selections -- will be a strong lineup.
Colchester key men: The Colchester forward Luke Norris is a keen fisherman and will hope he can land a big one on Wednesday. He has scored eight goals already this season, including their crucial first in the last 16 against Crawley, and featured in the goallless third-round draw with Tottenham that Colchester sensationally turned into a shootout win on penalties, even converting their first kick. Other dangers include former West Ham, Wolves and Ipswich striker Frank Nouble and the marauding ex-Arsenal left-back Cohen Bramall.
Why Manchester United will win: Because they are playing a team three divisions below them. But also because United appear to be back, to some degree at least, in business. They've seen off Tottenham and Manchester City in the past fortnight, while even the comeback draw with Everton finished with a degree of feel-good factor. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs a trophy to get his era truly up and running so, with the Carabao Cup in sight, United are hardly likely to fill up on the mince pies and Christmas puddings before this festive test.
Why Colchester will win: Because this is a tie for romantics and, as Colchester have already shown in beating Spurs, they are more than capable of ending with surprises. In the third round, United were nearly embarrassed by Rochdale and their prodigious schoolboy, Luke Matheson, at Old Trafford before edging through on spot kicks. Colchester have a little more experience about them than that and that victory over Tottenham, which helped bring about the demise of Mauricio Pochettino, will have hardened their resolve. Should Solskjaer be fearing a repeat?
Prediction: Greenwood & Co. prove too strong in a 3-0 United win -- and Ole is looking more and more in control of the wheel.