Lincoln City v Liverpool and more: Carabao Cup third round – live!

In non-Carabao news: Erik Lamela has given Spurs the lead against *check notes* Shkendija in the Europa League.

Liverpool have completely changed their front three but Jota is still on the bench. What a wealth of talent they have available. At the same time, it probably means Shaqiri will not be there for much longer, as surely there are too many forwards in that squad.

Phil Grey asks: “Is that THE Van Dijk in the Liverpool defence? So cool for Montsma, and indeed all the Lincoln players, if it is.”

I was hoping it was Dick van Dyke operating in the sweeper role. Alas, it is not.

Peter Oh emails to say: “I look forward to Lewis Montsma strutting his stuff for Lincoln City today, but I’m sure Jürgen Klopp will also strike a pose or two.”

To be fair, I bet Klopp’s modelling has resulted in more Liverpool caps being sold than Montsma selling overpriced nonsense to idiots.

Not exactly sure how City are going to lineup but they have picked Delap, Doyle, Harwood-Bellis and Bernabe, which is pretty exciting. Bournemouth, on the other hand, just have a bunch of blokes who weren’t good enough for the Premier League.

Man City: Steffen, Walker, Garcia, Harwood-Bellis, Rodrigo, Doyle, Foden, Bernabe, Torres, Mahrez, Delap

Subs: Carson, Ake, Sterling, De Bruyne, Mendy, Nmecha, Palmer

Bournemouth: Travers, Ofoborh, Simpson, Kelly, Smith, Rico, Gosling, L Cook, Billing, Brooks, Surridge

Subs: Begovic, Stacey, S Cook, Lerma, Kilkenny, Zemura, Anthony

Lincoln: Palmer, Bradley, Montsma, Eyoma, Melbourne, Bridcutt, Edun, Jones, Grant, Anderson, Scully

Subs: Ross, Jackson, McGrandles, Howarth, Roughan, Archibald, Hopper

Liverpool: Adrian, N Williams, R Williams, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Grujic, Jones, Elliott, Shaqiri, Minamino, Origi

Subs: Kelleher, Fabinho, Keita, Jota, Wilson, Alexander-Arnold, Van den Berg

Ben Fisher has been speaking to a male model to compare their handsomeness.

Bristol City: O’Leary, Sessegnon, Vyner, Moore, Rowe, Eliasson, Brunt, Nagy, Palmer, Semenyo, Diedhiou

Subs: Bentley, Mawson, Bakinson, Massengo, Paterson, Martin, Wells

Aston Villa: Steer, Guilbert, Elmohamady, Hause, Taylor, Lansbury, Nakamba, J Ramsey, Traore, Davis, El Ghazi

Subs: Kalinic, Mings, Target, Hourihane, McGinn, Trezeguet, Watkins

Early-round matches in the League Cup on a Thursday night is the football we have all been waiting for. How many youngsters will Liverpool play at Lincoln? Will Rory Delap’s son make his Manchester City debut against Bournemouth? So many questions we will get the answers to soon.

Jurgen Klopp will give plenty of players a chance to impress at Sincil Bank, as due to the rigours of the season competing in four competitions is pretty tricky. Luckily, the German has lots of quality youngsters at his disposal; Neco Williams, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott generally impress when offered the chance to shine. Additionally, left-back Kostas Tsimikas could get a first taste of English football following his summer move from Olympiakos.

Michael Appleton’s side have won their opening two league matches in addition to beating Crewe and Bradford City in the Carabao. They are not short of confidence and will be keen to test themselves against the Premier League champions. “There are definitely no nerves, it’s more excitement,” Appleton said.

A new goalkeeper will be on show for Manchester City, with Zack Steffen set to start between the sticks for Pep Guardiola’s side. The US international will make his debut behind a defence which could include Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who has looked steady in previous outings for the first team. As previously mentioned, it looks likely that Liam Delap will notch his first game as a professional, having sat on the bench against Wolves. The teenage striker has impressed in the youth ranks and has earned his chance to play but do not expect any long throw-ins.

Oh, and Bristol City are playing Aston Villa, which is pretty exciting, too.

Tonight’s matches (all times BST):

Bristol City v Aston Villa 7pm
Lincoln City v Liverpool 7.45pm
Manchester City v Bournemouth 7.45pm

Let’s hope for a cracking set of games.