Which of the Premier League's top six has the strongest second string?

This week's Carabao Cup quarter-finals are an opportunity for managers to rotate their sides, but which of the Premier League's big six has the strongest squad to call on?

Manchester City face Leicester on Tuesday and Manchester United are away to Bristol City on Wednesday, both live on Sky Sports, with Arsenal hosting West Ham and Chelsea welcoming Bournemouth in the other ties.

Liverpool and Tottenham are the only big-six sides to have already been eliminated from the competition, but how do the second XIs compare? From City to Spurs, take a look at the teams below and vote in our poll.

How we picked the teams: Of course, in the era of rotation, there will be lots of players in these sides who get lots of Premier League game time. But we've selected players who often miss out on playing in their preferred position to their team-mates or who have recently lost their place in the starting XI...

MANCHESTER CITY

Claudio Bravo may not inspire confidence in Manchester City supporters but their second-choice defence looks strong, with Vincent Kompany - now arguably behind John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi in Pep Guardiola's pecking order - and Eliaquim Mangala flanked by Danilo and Fabian Delph, who has been deputising for the injured Benjamin Mendy at left-back.

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The midfield is a mixture of youth and experience, with Yaya Toure and Ilkay Gundongan joined by the 21-year-old Oleksandr Zinchenko. In attack, Gabriel Jesus is flanked by £43m summer signing Bernardo Silva and England U17 star Phil Foden.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Manchester United may be lagging behind City in the Premier League but Jose Mourinho can have few complaints about the depth of his squad. He rates Sergio Romero as the best back-up goalkeeper in the division and he has good options behind current centre-back pairing Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.

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In midfield, Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini bring a wealth of experience, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial providing support to last season's top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front.

CHELSEA

Antonio Conte was frustrated by Chelsea's failure to further strengthen their squad in the summer, and with rookie trio Kenedy, Charly Musonda and Ethan Ampadu making their second-choice XI, it is not difficult to understand why.

Antonio Rudiger, Cesc Fabregas, Danny Drinkwater, Pedro and the out-of-favour David Luiz are experienced and high-calibre options, but Conte still seems unconvinced by Michy Batshuayi, who has only started three Premier League games in two seasons at Stamford Bridge.

LIVERPOOL

Liverpool do not boast great depth at centre-back, with Joe Gomez and Ragnar Klavan the only natural alternatives to Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren, although they are better-stocked elsewhere.

Adam Lallana will be desperate to regain his place in the team following his injury lay-off, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also pushing for more regular involvement. James Milner is a reliable performer who can fulfil a number of different roles, and Liverpool can also call on Daniel Sturridge and Dominic Solanke in attack.

ARSENAL

Arsenal's second string has been given plenty of game-time this season thanks to the club's involvement in the Europa League. We have opted for Calum Chambers and Rob Holding either side of Per Mertesacker in the back three, with Mathieu Debuchy and Ainsley Maitland-Niles at wing-back and David Ospina in goal.

Mohamed Elneny and Jack Wilshere look like the best back-up options in midfield, and there is plenty of experience in attack, with Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud the most obvious alternatives for Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette.

TOTTENHAM

Tottenham's second XI features Michel Vorm in goal, with Juan Foyth and Eric Dier providing cover at centre-back. Serge Aurier and Danny Rose are the full-backs, with Vincent Wanyama and Harry Winks in central midfield and Eric Lamela, Moussa Sissoko and Georges-Kevin N'Koudou behind back-up striker Fernando Llorente.

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