Arsenal v Brighton, Swansea v Manchester City and more: Carabao Cup clockwatch – live | Carabao Cup

Wolves 0-2 Chelsea

18 min: The Blues should really be 3-0 up! Nearly a carbon copy of the second goal, as Gittens darts down the left, his deflected cross finding George in the middle – where is the marking?! – and the Chelsea youngster stabs a finish just past the far post! It was an awkward height but George really should have buried that, regardless.

Our sole 8pm GMT kick-off – Newcastle v Tottenham – is also underway.

As Football Manager would say, Wolves are sinking without trace! Gittens tears down the left wing, burning past Doherty with ease to reach the byline and the Englishman cuts a low cross to George in the middle, who has a simple tap in from five yards out. This could end up being a cricket score.

The Championship side are ahead! Swansea put Premier League opposition (Nottingham Forest) to the sword in the last round and now the Welsh side are ahead here! Trafford had no chance in the City goal as Franco shaped a peach of a curler from the edge of the area right into the top corner, the Portuguese midfielder kissing his shot off the inside the post. Postage stamp stuff!

Arsenal 0-0 Brighton

8 min: The visitors should be in front! They have had the best of the opening exchanges and from an Arsenal corner, Brighton surge forward on a dangerous counter attack. Baleba streams forward down the left and finds a beautiful pass to Tzimas, who is one-on-one with Arrizabalaga … but the Greek slips and skews his finish wide! What a chance for Brighton!

Wolves give the ball away in midfield and Chelsea pounce, feeding the ball to Andrey Santos on the edge of the home box, and the Brazilian rifles a low shot into the corner, just out of the reach of José Sa’s left hand!

The four 7.45pm GMT kick-offs are underway!

Arsenal v Brighton
Swansea City v Manchester City
Wolves at Chelsea…

… and Liverpool v Crystal Palace, although you can follow the latter game with Scott Murray in our dedicated MBM.

This is what Mikel Arteta had to say about Max Dowman in the lead up to Arsenal’s match against Brighton. The 15-year-old signed scholarship terms with Arsenal last week, with a professional contract due to be finalised for his 17th birthday. He joined as a five‑year‑old and the hope is that he will stay for the long term.

[Dowman staying is] what we all want. I think what he wants as well. After that it is more for [the sporting director] Andrea [Berta] and the club. But the feeling that I have is that genuinely he loves it here. He is a huge Arsenal supporter and his family are really happy with the way things are developing around him as well. Hopefully for many years he will be with us.

If we looked at his passport every day we would never play him, simple as that. So it is finding a balance, an understanding, especially the load, the things that are changing in his life, and making sure he can cope with that. So far, he has done that.

In the front line, that is where we have more difficulties. Gabby Jesus out, Kai [Havertz] out, [Gabriel] Martinelli and [Noni] Madueke out. We have to be more careful as we don’t have many options.”

Here are some relevant preview pieces for you to enjoy.

Wolves: Jose Sa, Doherty, Mosquera, Agbadou, Toti Gomes, Wolfe, Tchatchoua, Joao Gomes, Lopez, Hwang, Arokodare.
Subs: Bentley, Hugo Bueno, Munetsi, Larsen, Rodrigo Gomes, Chirewa, Bellegarde, Mane, Krejci.

Chelsea: Jorgensen, Gusto, Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Hato, Lavia, Santos, Estevao, Buonanotte, Gittens, George.
Subs: Sanchez, Fofana, Furnace, James, Caicedo, Fernandez, Net Pedro, Joao Pedro, Delp.

This is the fixture with the most changes. Few will expect Wolves to trouble Chelsea with that line-up.

Newcastle: Ramsdale, Krafth, Thiaw, Schar, Burn, Willock, Tonali, Ramsey, Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes.
Subs: Pope, Trippier, Botman, Joelinton, Gordon, Osula, Jacob Murphy, Guimaraes, Miley.

Tottenham Hotspur: Kinsky, Porro, Danso, Sarr, Spence, Bentancur, Joao Palhinha, Johnson, Bergvall, Simons, Richarlison.
Subs: Austin, Tel, Kudus, go from Ves, Moani, Scarlet, Ouseous, Rowswell, Gunter.

Yes, there are some key omissions, but it’s fair to say that both sides are going for it!

Swansea: Fisher, Key, Casey, Burgess, Samuels-Smith, Tymon, Inoussa, Goncalo Franco, Galbraith, Widell, Idah.
Subs: Farman, Fulton, Cabango, Vipotnik, Eom, Cullen, Benson, Santos, Ronald.

Manchester City: Trafford, Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, Ait Nouri, Gonzalez, Mukasa, Bobb, Cherki, Doku, Marmoush.
Subs: Between, Donnnarumma, Stones, Gardons, Saviour, Matheus of Luiz, O’Reilly, Phillips, Foden.

The Wilfried Bony Derby! Manchester City ring the changes, but make no mistake, this is an elite, international XI, possibly with the exception of Divine Mukasa, whose sole senior appearance came in the last round.

Arsenal: Arrizabalaga, White, Mosquera, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Dowman, Harriman-Annous, Eze.
Subs: Saka, Gabriel, Raya, Timber, Gyokeres, Calafiori, Trossard, Zubimendi, Rice.

Brighton: Steel, Kadioglu, Coppola, of Hecke, The Cuyper, Balba, Boscagli, Rutter, Kostoulas, Gomez, Tzime.
Subs: Dunk, Minteh, Watson, Welbeck, Ayari, Wieffer, Simmonds, Ramming, Knight.

At 15 years and 302, Max Dowman becomes the youngest ever person to start for Arsenal. Andre Harriman-Annous, who at 17 is almost middle-aged in comparison, makes his first ever appearance for the Gunners’ senior team. And it’s a start!

By contrast, this is a very experienced Brighton team. Diego Gomez, who scored four goals in a 6-0 win over Barnsley in the last round, gets the nod as the No 10 this evening.

There are only a few teams that can probably justify not fielding their best XI for these Carabao Cup fourth-round matches, but for most, there are no real excuses why each side shouldn’t be going full throttle to reach Wembley.

We saw last season with Newcastle United just what a League Cup triumph can do to a football club and its fanbase, just imagine what a successful defence would mean to the Geordies, or what might mean to the mid-table stalwarts of Brighton (no major honours ever), Crystal Palace (one major honour ever), or the Championship’s Swansea City (one major honour). With relegation heavily unlikely for all these sides, and with only minor European qualification (or a play-off place) to play for, there is no reason why these sides shouldn’t invest in this competition (especially as Europa League qualification comes with the silverware). Win tonight, and they are in the quarter-finals, and nearly within touching distance of Wembley. Woof.

Even for Mikel Arteta, trophyless for the last five seasons, a taste of Carabao would be sweet, although few expect the title-chasing Gunners to field their first XI (in fairness, their second XI is jam packed full of internationals) against Brighton.

Liverpool will be wary of another damaging domestic defeat. Palace are a formidable away team, and there might be fewer changes to Arne Slot’s side than expected as he looks to guarantee safe passage and another PR crisis.

Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Wolves (no major honours in 45 years) are probably the only sides tonight that are nailed on to rest players. In fairness to the latter, Wolves do have a bit of a relegation scrap on their hands, and a crucial trip to Fulham this weekend. Vítor Pereira is likely more concerned that and about keeping his job for another week, than a Carabao Cup final in February.

It’s a grand mix of intriguing ties as the teams look to join Brentford, Fulham and Cardiff in the last eight. Following Wednesday’s ties (below), I will also bring you live updates from the quarter-final draw, so please do stick around after the final whistles.

A reminder that Scott Murray is doing a dedicated minute-by-minute report of Liverpool v Palace, so follow him here for that game. I will post updates when I can, but will focus my most of my attention of the other four matches.