There were some terrific Carabao Cup Third Round ties drawn on Wednesday night, none more so than Newcastle’s hosting of Man City.
Pep Guardiola has the opportunity of becoming the first manager in history to guide his side to the quadruple of Carabao Cup, FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League.
There’s little point in speculating that it will never happen because City are streets ahead of the competition both domestically and across the continent.
The Magpies will absolutely have something to say about that of course, and having been beaten finalists last season, as well as losing to City by the narrowest of margins in the Premier League already, the St. James’ Park faithful expects.
If Newcastle were given their correct number in the draw (19) we would have drawn Fulham away.
As you can see, draw numbers are done in alphabetically, with the only mistake being Norwich and Newcastle in the wrong order.
Hmm @Carabao_Cup ? pic.twitter.com/BlFZPAQ4Fp
— NUFC HQ (@NUFC_HQ) August 30, 2023
Things could’ve been so different in the draw, however, with NUFC HQ Twitter account noting that there had been an error in the numbering for Wednesday’s draw.
With the numbers corresponding to the teams in alphabetical order, Newcastle (given ball 20), should clearly have been handed the 19 which was taken by Norwich.
Had the numbering been correct, the Magpies would’ve been playing Fulham, whilst the Canaries would’ve hosted last season’s treble winners.
As it is, Eddie Howe will now have to motivate his team to get past the favourites for the competition, but that shouldn’t be too difficult given that they could stop City’s tilt at history in its tracks before it’s even got going.