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The semifinals of the Carling Cup begin this week with Burnley at defending champion Tottenham on Tuesday and Manchester United playing at Derby on Wednesday. United will be playing their second game in just 17 days but is not expected to be tested by a weak Derby squad. The second leg will be played in two weeks at Old Trafford. The winner will face either Burnley or Tottenham for the Soccer Betting Carling Cup title.
Manchester United is expected to mix up their lineup with regulars and reserves in Wednesday's match against Derby. United has a key game upcoming on Sunday against Chelsea in the Premier League so some starters will be rested. United had little trouble over the weekend in the FA Cup, winning 3-0 against Southampton. One player who will get some playing time against Derby though is Carlos Tevez who missed the team's last two matches while he was in Argentina. "Carlos will be back in training on Monday and he'll be involved on Wednesday," manager Alex Ferguson said. "It'll be virtually the same squad. I might leave out one or two, but it'll be more or less the same group of players." That means that striker Cristiano Ronaldo will be rested along with some other starters. Derby still doesn't have a manager since Paul Jewell resigned last week. They just got by non-league Forest Green Rovers over the weekend, winning 4-3 in FA Cup action.
Tottenham could be tested in the other semifinal matchup against Burnley. Tottenham will be without Darren Bent but they have Roman Pavlyuchenko who should provide some offense. He has scored four goals in three League Cup games this season. Playmaker Luka Modric could also get the start. He played well in the 3-1 win over Wigan in FA Cup action on Friday. "I dropped him into midfield and he coped great; it wasn't a problem for him," manager Harry Redknapp said. "I think we can play Luka in there because he's so good on the ball. He keeps the ball and is a great little footballer.
He's strong enough and certainly good enough. I can't see any reason why he can't play in there for us."
The Carling Cup final will be played March 1st at Wembley.
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