Last night’s English League Cup action saw Aston Villa progress as they beat a young and inexperienced Liverpool side, with Jurgen Klopp’s first XI about to play their Club World Cup opener against Monterrey.
With three matches taking place tonight, there are points of interest in them all as mid-season frustrations need to be put to one side by both Manchester clubs and both Everton and Leicester.
Everton vs. Leicester City (7:45 pm GMT kick-off)
Two teams at polar opposite positions of the English Premier League will find themselves closer than at first they might appear on Wednesday night at Goodison Park. With rumours of Carlo Ancelotti’s impending takeover as Everton manager not going away, it looks like the Italian may be in place for the weekend’s intriguing clash between The Toffees and Arsenal.
Everton welcome a Leicester side who may not be totally focused on affairs given their next two make-or-break Premier League games are away to champions Manchester City and at home to Liverpool. If The Foxes have given up on the title, they’ll go for Everton. If not, then Duncan Ferguson’s probable final game may see The Toffees stick it to the Midlands side.
Oxford United vs. Manchester City (7:45 pm GMT kick-off)
Manchester City travel to Oxford United in what will be a glamourous tie for the hosts and one almost of distraction for the visitors.
Pep Guardiola, no doubt a little distracted purely by the imminent possible departure of Mikel Arteta to Arsenal’s managerial team, will be hoping to make the next round and emerge with a clean bill of health.
Oxford United have performed miracles to get this far, but this surely is a step too far. If they get an early goal, however, The U’s will dare to dream.
Manchester United vs. Colchester United (8:00 pm GMT kick-off)
Manchester United will hope to progress in style against Colchester United as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s troops mix it up and try to maintain an impressive mini-run of unbeaten games. While the Red Devils will be rueing recent home draws against Aston Villa and Everton, those four dropped points currently keeping them out of the top four and Champions League places, their Carabao Cup form has been decent.
With youngsters such as Mason Greenwood in fine form and scoring regularly, Solskjaer will hope to reintroduce players such as Tahith Chong into the United first team and give other players returning from injury such as Nemanja Matic and Luke Shaw more game-time to increase their fitness.
The home side should win, but that first goal will be vital. If Colchester can grab it, then they can sit in like Everton did on Sunday and try to hold onto what they’ve got.
Betting on any of the three games could show value in going for players in form against defenders who haven’t been playing regularly. But overall, we like the value behind each game as a single bet finishing in a draw. You only need one to come in to strike profit and – depending on the line-ups – the teams could be more evenly matched than you might think.
Remaining English League Cup fixtures:
Wednesday 18th December
Everton vs. Leicester City (7:45 pm GMT kick-off)
Everton 19/10
The Draw 5/2 – our tip
Leicester City 13/10
Oxford United vs. Manchester City (7:45 pm GMT kick-off)
Oxford United 16/1
The Draw 8/1 – our tip
Manchester City 1/8
Manchester United vs. Colchester United (8:00 pm GMT kick-off)
Manchester United 1/7
The Draw 13/2 – our tip
Colchester 14/1
