Newcastle United face Brentford in the last eight of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening as both sides chase their first ever EFL Cup crown.

The Magpies came close to lifting the trophy in 2022/23 as they reached the final, but defeat to Manchester United in the showpiece event meant Newcastle’s long wait for a major trophy continued.

Brentford have never reached the final of the competition but did make it to the semis in 2020/21 before tasting defeat to fellow London outfit Tottenham. The Bees have never won a major cup competition previously.

While Brentford have endured a tough time on their travels this season, they did beat Newcastle on home soil at the beginning of the month. Their 4-2 victory will offer them confidence heading to a raucous St James’ Park on Wednesday.

Here is 90min’s guide to Newcastle vs Brentford.

Newcastle vs Brentford H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

Nick Pope missed the weekend win over Leicester City after sustaining a knee injury that will rule him out until mid-January. Martin Dubravka will replace the Englishman for the next month.

Jamaal Lascelles and Emil Krafth are still absent in defence with long-term issues but Sven Botman is closing in on a return to first-team football. He featured for Newcastle’s Under-21s on Monday and could be back with the senior squad come the end of December.

Callum Wilson’s injury woes persist and the striker is unavailable for the next two months with a fresh hamstring injury sustained a week ago. Joelinton is suspended for the weekend clash with Ipswich Town after picking up five Premier League yellow cards but he’s available against Brentford.

Newcastle predicted lineup vs Brentford (4-3-3): Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

Brentford remain without a number of long-term absentees, including Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Joshua Dasilva. Summer signing Gustavo Nunes is still missing as well, with his recovery from a back issue taking longer than expected.

Mathias Jensen will be a big miss for Brentford in the engine room. The midfielder suffered a hamstring injury in late November and is unlikely to return until the new year.

Thomas Frank is unlikely to make sweeping changes from the side that put up a strong fight at Stamford Bridge in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat.

Brentford predicted lineup vs Newcastle (5-3-2): Flekken; Roerslev, Van den Berg, Pinnock, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard, Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Wissa.

Newcastle enjoy a generally impressive recent record against Brentford despite defeat in early December and they will lean on the cacophonous St James’ Park crowd to help them overcome the tricky Bees on Wednesday.

Goals have been difficult to come by for Newcastle this term but they have delivered nine across their last three outings, with Alexander Isak hitting some much-needed form in front of goal. Brentford have kept just one clean sheet in 16 league matches this season and will find it difficult to stifle the Magpies.

Brentford have plenty of attacking threat and will be confident of causing their own issues for Newcastle. However, they have the joint worst away record in the Premier League this term and could fail to get the job done on the road again.

Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Brentford

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