StevieDay1983 Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 The EFL Cup 1st Round takes place over the next couple of weekends as the FA looks to speed through as many competitions as soon as possible with the prospect of a potential second spike of covid-19 heading our way over the autumn and winter months. Here are the odds for all these games. Tell us what predictions you have for these matches and I'll look to get some previews up for a selection of matches over the coming weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malabgd Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 Blackburn Rovers vs Doncaster Rovers Blackburn Rovers Doubtful: - Out (injuries/other): Ryan Nyambe (31/0 d), Sam Gallagher (42/6 f), Bradley Dack (22/9 m), Thomas Kaminski (0/0 g, newcomer), Jack Vale (1/0 f), Joe Grayson (0/0 m) Suspended: - (Players stats are from last season.) Doncaster Rovers Doubtful: Reece James (27/2 d) Out (injuries/other): - Suspended: - (Players stats are from last season.) Daily updated injuries and suspensions information from more then 100 football leagues and competitions worldwide at: www.injuriesandsuspensions.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieDay1983 Posted September 3, 2020 Author Share Posted September 3, 2020 Middlesbrough vs Shrewsbury The 1st Round of the EFL Cup continues this week with the majority of fixtures taking place after some sporadic action last week. In this opening preview, we take a look at the 5:30pm BST kick-off on Friday evening between Championship side Middlesbrough and League One club Shrewsbury at the Riverside. The home side are heavy favourites but are the bookies under-estimating the away team? Middlesbrough enter into this league season as one of the dark horses in the Championship. The team might not have changed much from last season with the only arrivals so far being striker Cole Kiernan signed from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee and centre back Grant Hall joining from QPR on a free. Ryan Shotton, George Friend, and Adam Clayton have all departed the club on free transfers with the latter two joining Birmingham. A 5-1 win against local rivals Newcastle in a pre-season game has given the club confidence and with Football League expert Neil Warnock at the helm you'd have to be a fool to rule them out of challenging for the play-offs at least. However, Warnock has always treated the EFL Cup with apathy at best so don't expect a full scale Boro assault here. Shrewsbury finished in a safe mid-table position of 15th last season when League One was curtailed early. Sam Ricketts remains as the man in charge and there is an enthusiasm to see the team change from its more pedestrian 3-5-2 to a more attack-minded 4-3-3. A few potentially shrewd additions in the mould of winger Josh Daniels from Glenavon and Rekeil Pyke from Huddersfield along with the loan signings of Scott High from Huddersfield, Marlon Fossey from Fulham, and Matija Sarkic from Wolves could be what is needed to aid that transition in philosophy. Pre-season has delivered mixed results so far so it's hard to tell how they'll be set up for this game. The EFL Cup is always a chance to make some profit on an underdog. It's notoriously renowned that Warnock's sides usually bow out of this competition early as he fields a mixture of reserves and youth players to rest the senior players. Will he do that here or see it as an opportunity to get the first team players closer to full match fitness? Shrewsbury will no doubt be at full strength but is that strong enough to beat this Boro side in transition? A lot of questions but I probably have to back even a weakened Boro side to get something here. Middlesbrough to Win @ 1.75 with 888Sport BTTS @ 1.91 with William Hill ivailobg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieDay1983 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Derby vs Barrow The EFL Cup 1st Round continues into Saturday with the action starting early in the day as Championship club Derby host League Two new boys Barrow in a 12pm BST kick-off at Pride Park. It's a baptism of fire for the Football League debutants who haven't had any domestic league games to prepare for this clash against a side that are two divisions higher than them. Derby have come into this season with a quiet sense of optimism about their campaign. Manager Phillip Cocu saw his Rams side nearly gate crash the play-offs last season after winning 5 straight league games in a row only for an end of season slump of just 1 win in their final 6 league games to eradicate their hopes. Cocu has made some shrewd moves in the transfer market this summer with a number of cheap and free arrivals coming in such as centre back Mike te Wierik from Groningen, attacker Cian Kelly from Bohemians, young midfielder Olamide Ibrahim from Manchester United, goalkeeper David Marshall from Wigan, and centre back Matthew Clarke on loan from Brighton. The departure of striker Chris Martin to Bristol City could be a blow. Barrow will be relishing this opportunity to show the Football League big guns what they are all about. David Dunn has been given the task of leading the team into their first ever League Two campaign after the departure of former gaffer Ian Evatt to Bolton. Dunn has brought in a lot of new faces including centre back Tom Beadling from Dunfermline, forward Luke James from Hartlepool, centre back Matthew Platt from Blackburn, and attacking midfielder Callum Gribbin from Sheffield United. Is it too much change in too short a time? Once again, we're facing a game that is incredibly tough to call. You have to fancy Derby given they've won all three of their most recent encounters with lower league opposition in cup competitions but this is a wildcard opposition in Barrow. I think if Evatt was still at the helm then I'd be willing to back the Bluebirds to give their opponents a game. I feel this could be a one-way affair though with the home side taking a comfortable victory. Derby -1 @ 2.10 with Betfair Derby HT/FT @ 2.05 with Boylesports ivailobg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieDay1983 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Walsall vs Sheffield Wednesday Live coverage of the EFL Cup 1st Round is being shown across the weekend and the second match being shown is the game involving League Two Walsall and Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in a 2:15pm BST kick-off on Saturday afternoon at Banks's Stadium. On paper, this should be a straightforward win for the away side but is there any evidence that backing the home team is worth it? Walsall finished in a comfortable mid-table position last season and manager Darrell Clarke will feel his side are now in a position where they can make a push for at least the play-offs with an aim of a return to League One. Striker Rory Holden has been brought in from Bristol City with goalkeeper Jack Rose coming in from Southampton. Winger George Nurse has also been signed from Bristol City on loan. Emmanuel Osadebe and Hayden White have also been drafted in. A number of players have left so it'll be interesting to see how balanced this squad is now. Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to start a tough season on a positive note. The Owls will start this season on -12 points after falling foul of Football League regulations. Manager Garry Monk has had limited funds to improve his squad but he has made a few intriguing acquisitions including Elias Kachunga from Huddersfield, Chey Dunkley from Wigan, Josh Windass from Wigan, Izzy Brown from Chelsea, and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru from Manchester City. A large number of big name players have departed the club including Steven Fletcher, Fernando Forestieri, Sam Winnall, Morgan Fox, and Sam Hutchinson. The team only managed 1 clean sheet in their last 10 away matches. One thing to note is that the goals tend to fly in during Walsall's games with over 2.5 goals being scored in 6 of their last 7 home matches. Sheffield Wednesday have also seen over 2.5 goals in every single one of their last 6 away matches. So there's a high chance we'll see goals here. I think you have to fancy this evolved Wednesday side to win a game against a Walsall team that will probably provide solid opposition but will ultimately be left wanting. Sheffield Wednesday to Win @ 1.95 with Gentingbet Total Goals Scored Over 2.5 @ 1.80 with Betfair ivailobg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieDay1983 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Northampton vs Cardiff The EFL Cup 1st Round dominates the domestic football in England this weekend with a range of matches kicking off at 3pm BST on Saturday afternoon. It's an interesting schedule for the clubs to navigate and one game we are previewing involves League One side Northampton versus Championship club Cardiff with the game being held at the Sixfields Stadium. Northampton will be bursting at the seams to get stuck into this season after their dramatic promotion via the League Two play-offs last season having qualified in 7th place on points per game. The Cobblers have been hit by a couple of big name departures in centre back Charlie Goode moving to Brentford and striker Vadaine Oliver rejecting a contract offer and leaving for Gillingham. Manager Keith Curle has looked to counter these players leaving by bringing in striker Joe Nuttall from Blackpool, centre back Luka Racic from Brentford, and keeper Jonathan Mitchell from Derby. Mixed pre-season friendly results suggest anything could happen with this team's performance. Cardiff narrowly missed out on promotion back to the Premier League last season. Neil Harris saw his team gate crash the play-offs with a superb spell of form after the restart but they lost 3-2 on aggregate to a Fulham side who were eventually promoted themselves. The Bluebirds have seen the departure of super sub Danny Ward back to his home town team of Huddersfield but the arrivals of Kieffer Moore from Wigan, Jordi Osei-Tutu from Arsenal, Oliver Denham from Manchester United, and Chanka Zimba from Blackburn have left the fans feeling their squad is probably slightly stronger than last season already. Harris has also been keen to emphasise the importance of getting results in the cup competitions. As a Cardiff fan, I love the fact that we have got two Wales games and a Cardiff game to look forward to this weekend. This never happens! Unfortunately, we are without both Moore and Will Vaulks who are two of our biggest players. Northampton will be riding a crest of a wave but I'll be interested to see how tight their defence is without Goode in the back-line. I feel we should be looking to win this and I'm expecting to see a strong starting line-up. For all my sins and naivety, I'm backing a narrow Cardiff win! Cardiff to Win @ 2.09 with VBet BTTS @ 1.70 with Bet365 ivailobg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieDay1983 Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 Brentford vs Wycombe OK, so I wasn't expecting that battering for Cardiff yesterday so I've decided to chuck a last minute preview up for today's midday kick-off between Championship sides Brentford and Wycombe at the Brentford Community Stadium in an attempt to get some profit back! These two teams have been busy during the summer transfer window after experiencing contrasting finales to their campaigns last season so let's see how they're both set-up for this game. Brentford suffered a gut-wrenching play-off final defeat against Fulham last season to see their Premier League dreams die in front of their very own eyes. Head coach Thomas Frank has been kept in charge and the key fact so far is that the club have managed to keep hold of their influential trio of Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma, and Bryan Mbeumo. However, newspaper reports suggest Watkins exit is imminent and with the club bringing in Ivan Toney from Peterborough you get the impression he may not even play today. The arrival of centre back Charlie Goode from Northampton is also an intriguing one as the Bees aim to strengthen ahead of the start of the league campaign. This is a Brentford side that scored 2 or more goals in 12 home matches last season and their home fixtures averaged 2.69 goals per game. Will that trend follow them to this new ground? Wycombe fans will be buzzing for this season to begin after their play-off final win over Oxford to earn promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history. Manager Gareth Ainsworth has done a tremendous job at the club but have they got enough to compete against the likes of Brentford week in and week out? The Chairboys have been active strengthening their squad in the summer with the likes of striker Uche Ikpeazu, centre back Giles Phillips, right back Jason McCarthy, keeper Curtis Anderson, right winger Daryl Horgan, and centre back Ryan Tafazolli all coming in on a limited budget. Are they strong enough to boost the team? It was a slow start for the club last season conceding 2 or more goals in 5 of their first 6 away matches so if they are slow starting again this campaign then this game could be brutal. This will be an interesting fixture. I'm expecting Brentford to be battling at the top again if Toney can replace the poaching instincts of Watkins. I feel that Brentford were more let down by their defensive inconsistencies than boosted by their attacking threats so have the right additions been made? Wycombe are punching above their weight this season and it could be a long and tough season. I think they'll battle today but I'd be surprised if Brentford don't get the win in business-like fashion. Brentford -1 @ 2.60 with Betfair Brentford HT/FT @ 2.45 with SpreadEx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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