After a 1-1 draw with Fleetwood in the League, The Blues travel to The EnviroVent Stadium to play Harrogate in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
It's a game that we will be looking to win, while hopefully making some changes to the squad and giving a chance to those who did not play on Saturday.
Harrogate Town
Harrogate come into the game having beaten Doncaster 1-0 away at the Eco-Power Stadium with a 66th-minute goal from Jack Muldoon. Their starting line-up was played in a 4-2-3-1 formation and consisted of:
GK: Oxley
RB: Sims
CB: O'Connor
CB: McDonald (ex-Carlisle)
LB: Foulds
CM: Cornelius
CM: Gibson
RW: Folarin
CAM: Odoh
LW: Daly
CF: Muldoon
There were five debuts for Harrogate against Doncaster with Odoh (he won the penalty) the pick of the attacking players and defender Foulds getting the Football League Paper Team of the Week. Harrogate won the game with a penalty and by all accounts were a bit lucky to get the win as they were holding on at the end.
The biggest news for Harrogate on Saturday was the fact that their top scorer from last season, Luke Armstrong 'made himself unavailable' for the fixture due to transfer interest. There is speculation that he is someone we've been linked with.
It'll be interesting to see how many changes they make to the team ahead of the game. I would imagine that they will make a few.
Carlisle United
For us, I would like to see a number of changes to the team. I feel like players who were not involved at the weekend have the quality to win at Harrogate. This is the team I would pick in a 3-5-2 formation subject to fitness and availability.
GK: Holy
CB: Barclay
CB: Whelan
CB: Mellish
RWB: Ellis
LWB: Robinson
CM: McGeouch
CM: Harris
CAM: Charters
CF: Edmondson
CF: Maguire
I think there's a chance we might see Lavelle over Whelan at CCB, as we are perhaps lacking a bit of height in central defence in the team I have picked. Really hope we see Harris after his good pre-season. McGeouch and Charters definitely have enough quality to play against a League Two team in midfield. Upfront is probably the hardest pick. Really hope Edmondson is available after him not being in the squad on Saturday. Is Maguire fit enough to play 60 minutes to get him up to speed? Or, is Butterworth fit enough to make the squad? That team is definitely good enough to beat Harrogate in my opinion.
History
We have never beaten Harrogate in a competitive game in our history. Harrogate only came into the League in 2021 and, since then we've lost 6 times and drawn twice. By the law of averages, we must have a good chance of winning this. The bookies have us as favorites at 7/5, with Harrogate at 11/5 and the draw at 12/5.
Final Thoughts
This is a great chance to get into the second round and get the chance to draw a Premier League team at home or away. It's also a good opportunity for us to play players who didn't start on Saturday and have a good look at them.
Up The Blues.
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