Newcastle have made a better start to the season than many expected, and I'm backing them to maintain that momentum by seeing off Millwall on Tuesday night.

Matthias Jaissle named an extremely strong side against West Brom in the previous round, suggesting that he has every intention of taking this competition seriously.

The Magpies have strengthened since then, leaving Jaissle with even greater depth to call upon at the Den.

Newcastle have scored multiple goals against both Liverpool and Bournemouth at St James' Park, either side of an impressive 2-0 victory away at Tottenham.

Millwall may have swept Bolton aside 4-0 on Saturday, but the scoreline was slightly misleading, as the Lions led just 1-0 until a late flurry of goals put a flattering gloss on the result.

With Alex Neil's side also suffering heavy Championship defeats against Southampton and Wrexham in recent weeks, Newcastle look worth backing to come out on top.

Newcastle's matches have delivered plenty of goalmouth action during the early stages of the season, so over 2.5 goals looks worth backing at the Den on Tuesday night.

The Magpies have already drawn 2-2 with both Liverpool and Bournemouth, as well as recording a 3-2 victory over Championship opposition West Brom in the previous round.

While I expect Newcastle to come out on top, their early results suggest that Millwall could play their part in pushing this contest beyond the over 2.5 goal line, even if it is only through a consolation strike.

Further encouragement comes from the fact that four of the Lions' opening five league games have produced over 2.5 goals, including all three at home.

Harvey Barnes looks a prime candidate to register at least one shot on target on Tuesday night.

The Newcastle winger scored a wonderful goal to drag his side back into Saturday's clash with Bournemouth, taking his tally for the season to three.

His other two strikes came against West Brom in the previous round of the EFL Cup, when he fired off three on-target efforts.

Barnes has picked up where he left off last term after averaging 0.96 shots on target per game in the Premier League.

Millwall could field an understrength side due to fixture congestion, while the Lions have also shown signs of defensive vulnerability after conceding eight goals across recent Championship defeats against Southampton and Wrexham.

Their pragmatic approach under Alex Neil is likely to invite plenty of pressure from the visitors, which should leave Barnes with no shortage of opportunities to test the goalkeeper.

Lyndon Dykes looks worth backing to commit at least two fouls during Tuesday night's EFL Cup tie.

The Millwall striker is an old-fashioned centre-forward who leads the line with plenty of aggression and is never afraid to impose himself physically.

Following his summer move to Millwall, Dykes came off the bench in each of his first three league appearances and committed one foul in all three games.

He has since been handed back-to-back starts, committing five fouls across those two matches and reaching the 2+ foul mark in both.

That continues a trend from last season, when he averaged 2.05 fouls per game in the Championship across his spells with Birmingham and Charlton.

Dykes also committed two fouls in just 16 minutes for Scotland against Haiti at the World Cup earlier this summer.

He is likely to come up against Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman, who have each made four starts for Newcastle this season and drawn seven fouls between them.