EFL Cup Predictions > Dec 18th & 19th

[StevieDay1983]

The EFL Cup Quarter-Finals are coming up just before Christmas. Four very intriguing ties with a lot of the big names still in it. It's exciting to see that the Semi-Finals will boast at least one Football League club with Middlesbrough and Burton playing each other. Arsenal versus Tottenham is clearly the match of the round. Let us know your thoughts on the bets to place here! 

[malabgd]

Leicester City v Manchester City

Leicester City: Jonny Evans (9/0 d, suspended), Ben Chilwell (16/0 d), Daniel Amartey (9/0 m), Matthew James (0/0 m)

Manchester City: Danilo (1/0 d, doubtful), David Silva (14/5 m), Benjamin Mendy (9/0 d), Claudio Bravo (0/0 g), Eliaquim Mangala (0/0 d)

 

Daily updated injuries and suspensions information from more then 100 football leagues and competitions worldwide at: www.injuriesandsuspensions.com

[StevieDay1983]

Leicester vs Manchester City

The live televised EFL Cup Quarter-Final tonight is the all-Premier League tie between mid-table Leicester and second placed Manchester City in a 7:45pm kick-off from the King Power Stadium. A place in the semi-finals is up for grabs but can the host side cause an upset?

Leicester have had a tragic and emotional couple of months. Things are starting to settle down once again after that traumatic period but questions still remain over the impact the death of the club's owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, but the club now face their sternest test since that awful day in this clash with City.

The Foxes have already disposed of Fleetwood, Wolves, and Southampton. Interestingly, Claude Puel's side haven't conceded a goal in regulation or extra-time play in this competition this season. If they manage that again tonight then they'll be only the second team this season to pull off that feat.

Manchester City are performing as expected. Pep Guardiola's side might not be top of the Premier League table but that's purely down to Liverpool's excellent early season form. They are still pushing Jurgen Klopp's men and have reached the last 16 of the Champions League as a seeded team.

So far in this competition, the Citizens have demolished Oxford United and Fulham without conceding a goal. It is no wonder the bookies are favouring them to win this game and win it well. It can never be certain what side Guardiola will send out for a game like this with a congested fixture schedule coming up. Maybe that offers the chance for some cheeky value backing the underdog to perform better than expected.

It should be remembered that even though Manchester City have the superior record in this head-to-head over recent times with 3 wins and a draw from the last 4 encounters, Leicester did actually take the scalp of City during 2016. The two clubs were in two completely different places back then mind.

I'm finding it hard to bet against Manchester City but I'm not sure it'll be as easy for them as the bookies are making out. Guardiola has frequently dismissed any real desire to try and win the EFL Cup. It seems to be a trophy he'd be happy to win but won't put much emphasis on it. I wouldn't be surprised if Leicester push them all the way losing by just a single goal or even taking the visitors to extra-time.

BTTS @ 1.95 with Bet365

Leicester +2 @ 1.83 with Ladbrokes

@Mindfulness, @Pep004, @MaliMisko12, @betcatalog, @sajtion, @godofhorses, @Tiffy, @waynecoyne, @The Sexless Innkeeper, @Magic0024, @malabgd, @Duke_Tm, @dogmeister, @Arkadi Manucharov, @derbent, @fat, @allyhibs, @6avin24, @discipline, @the bastardian, @Bronxie, @Bett, @KikoCy, @teddybear3011, @markus808, @allthethings, @Kenton Schweppes, @vasilli07, @Dylan Lynch, @neilovan, @JKos, @zemo91, @kulikTS, @mrclubbie, @Judeksi, @Henind666, @Dave1X2, @canaries91, @jazzman02, @sajtion, @Darran, @postmanplod69, @eddiem, @bartonbank, @yossa6133, @Teodore, @thinkpink63, @Roy The Boy, and @AndreBR, what bets are you guys tempted by for these games?

[four-leaf]

I'm on btts with Paddypower but they don't have the greatest odds on that bet there. I only got btts at 1.75.

[StevieDay1983]

Arsenal vs Tottenham

The pick of the EFL Cup Quarter-Final matches this week is tonight's North London derby clash between Arsenal and Tottenham that is scheduled to take place at the Emirates Stadium in a 7:45pm kick-off. How will both teams line up? It's almost an impossible one to call. Here we go!

Arsenal are thriving under Unai Emery. The Gunners are knocking on the door of the top four, into the last 32 of the Europa League, and still competing in both this competition and the FA Cup. Emery is doing this whilst also changing the whole identity of the club's playing philosophy into a more hardy unit.

Progress in this competition has been business-like for the club so far. Victories over Brentford and Blackpool have encountered little trouble but conceding against both sides at home has meant things were not as straightforward as Emery perhaps might have liked but it's been enough.

Tottenham continue to enjoy their best start to a Premier League season with Mauricio Pochettino's side in 3rd place and only 6 points off the insane title pace set by the undefeated Liverpool. Rumours are already circulating linking the Argentine manager to the vacant permanent position at Manchester United but I expect Pochettino to remain unfazed as he has been with previous links to the Real Madrid job.

Spurs have had a mixed pair of results to get to this stage. They required a 4-2 win on penalties to progress past Watford in the 3rd Round and then battered West Ham 3-1 away in the previous round. A blend of first team players and fringe players has worked so far but will the opposition here provoke Pochettino to play his best players.

A decisive factor here is that both sides are without a number of their squad players. This could force them to pick more first team players than they might initially want. Unless they take a bigger risk and give youth players an opportunity. The Gunners are missing Rob Holding, Danny Welbeck, Emile Smith-Rowe, and Konstantinos Mavropanos with Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac both doubtful. Spurs are likely without Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama, Serge Aurier, Mousa Dembele, Davinson Sanchez, and Juan Foyth.

It's pointless looking back through head-to-head meetings for a game in a competition like this. There are so many variables with both clubs continuing to be in different evolutionary stages of their growth. I think we'll see strong teams from both sides and it might take extra-time and penalties to separate the two teams. If I had to put a punt on it then I'd back Arsenal to grab the win because Emery knows how to grind out victories in cup competitions.

Arsenal to Qualify @ 1.83 with Betfred

Total Goals Scored Over 3.5 @ 2.70 with SportPesa

[thfc]

A couple of points to bare in mind for the Arsenal Spurs game.  Arsenal have a fairly quick turnaround with a lunchtime game on Saturday (home to Burnley), while Spurs don't play until the Sunday so have more time to recover.  Arsenal also played last Sunday whereas spurs played on the Saturday so again have had more time to recover from the last game's efforts.  

I watched the Southampton Arsenal game at the weekend, and Arsenal's makeshift defence was terrible.  Bellerin is confirmed out of this one, and they have a lot of injuries to defenders.  Not that their first choice pairing is all that good, but the point is that they don't keep many clean sheets whoever is playing for them.  Team news will be important, but I strongly fancy spurs to score in this game.

Both teams to score seems pretty likely but is massive odds on. Over 3.5 goals as suggested above seems a good shout, although I wouldn't expect Kane to start, and maybe not Aubameyang either.

Based on my confidence in spurs being able to target the Arsenal defenders, I'm going to go with spurs to score over 1.5 goals in the game at 2.15 with Coral for this one.