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MANCHESTER. — Kevin de Bruyne and Marouane Fellaini will both miss the Manchester derby tonight. Manchester United host Manchester City in the EFL Cup fourth round at Old Trafford at 9pm. But the hosts will be without Fellaini while Pep Guardiola will have to do without star man De Bruyne.Fellaini picked up a knee injury in United’s 4-0 defeat by Chelsea on Sunday and will not be risked. Michael Carrick is expected to fill in for the injured Belgium international. De Bruyne went off at half-time in City’s 1-1 draw with Southampton because of a calf problem.

And manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed the Belgium forward has picked up a knock as the City boss prepares to rotate his squad for the clash at Old Trafford tonight. Pablo Zabaleta is almost certainly out too but Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and a number of youngsters such as Aleix Garcia and Pablo Maffeo, who both played in the third-round win over Swansea, are in contention.

Guardiola said: “Kevin cannot play. No way. He had a big knock in the leg. Hopefully he can play against West Brom, but I don’t know.

“Pablo, I think, cannot play either. Vincent, I think he can. He will train and after we will see if he is fit. I need to see all the guys in training today. Then we will decide. Sergio is in contention.

“We are going to rotate. Some that haven’t played are going to play, sure, firstly because they deserve it but also because there has been some tough games recently. People are tired. “Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia are with us and I am so happy about that. It’s not easy when you are training with the first team but playing with the second team, but their attitude has been really good.

“We have to think about it. Normally the young players have to be involved when the team is in a good moment, but we haven’t won for five games. To put four, five young players in at this moment is not a good idea. We have to protect them.

“But we will see. We might not have options, and I will have to put them in.”

City were 2-1 winners in the Premier League clash at Old Trafford in September but Guardiola is expecting an equally tough match despite both sides being anticipated to make considerable changes.

He said: “A derby is a derby. It’s always special. We are not going to play just a game. We are going to play seriously, like always, and try to win the game.

“I always expect the best from United, not because they lost at the weekend. The quality and the experience of Jose, and it being Manchester United, means a lot. They are always a good time.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City captain Kompany believes bitter rivals Manchester United have handed his team an advantage by playing down tonight’s League Cup local derby at Old Trafford.

The injury-plagued Belgium international defender started a game for the first time since April in Sunday’s 1-1 English Premier League draw with Southampton and came through unscathed as City gained a point that put them top of the table on goal difference.

Now Kompany hopes to retain his place for the EFL Cup fourth-round tie, especially as United manager Jose Mourinho — beaten 4-0 at his old side Chelsea on Sunday — has described the competition as being fourth on his club’s list of priorities. “It’s just physically impossible for me to play down a derby,” said Kompany (30). “But the more they say this is the fourth competition, the better it is for us.

“Am I looking forward to Wednesday? Come on, always. The bigger the game, the better. “That’s how I’ve always approached it in my career and I will for the rest of my career. Those games are what you play for.”

City hold the League Cup after beating Liverpool on penalties in a Wembley final in February, but they make the journey across Manchester on a run of five league and cup games without victory. However, the return of a fully fit Kompany is a major boost for a City defence that appears determined to implode at least once a game.

Kompany, regarded as one of the top centre-backs in the Premier League, has suffered a mammoth 34 injuries in his eight years with the Blues. The majority of his injury history relates to hamstring and, particularly, calf problems, although Kompanyâ’s latest issue has concerned his groin.

“It’s hard to come back, obviously, but I know what I have to do to be back at my level,” said the City stalwart. “I’m always confident. The last thing I want to do, when you’ve lived through your career as a footballer, is give up. “If I give up then I know the outcome. But if I carry on, there’s always a chance that I’ll relive those moments. So my motivation can never be in doubt.

“God knows what would have happened if I’d never had those injuries but I need to get something that makes me stronger out of it, something different from other players, and that’s what I believe in.” City manager Pep Guardiola is looking to end an unusually barren spell by his high standards and following City’s latest disappointment against Southampton he kept his players locked in the dressing room for nearly an hour.

Kompany declined to discuss specifically what was said during the inquest but accepts that the players should shoulder their share of criticism.

“We’re adults, we’re all highly ambitious and we realise that we have to move as a unit and behave as a team and I think anything in the dressing room stays in the dressing room,” he said. “But I think it’s positive to have some sort of maturity in the team, to recognise we need to move forward, but to have a positive spirit and, as I said, these kind of results sometimes give you something extra — and that’s what we need to get out of it.”

Kompany is also hoping to steer clear of the treatment table from now on by paying more attention to medical advice. The 30-year-old defender returned from his latest spell on the sidelines to make his first Premier League start since April in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton.

“I’ve been out for six months. I’ve had to make one commitment to the medical staff, which was that I’d be honest towards them with my feelings, and that I would listen to them when they made a decision,” Kompany told British media. — The Daily Star-AFP.