CARABAO CUP WEDNESDAY: We preview Wednesday’s Carabao Cup 1/4 Final’s between EVERTON v LEICESTER, OXFORD UNITED v MAN CITY and MAN U v COLCHESTER all with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.
EVERTON V LEICESTER
7.45pm We have an interesting night ahead in the Carabao Cup and we start with Everton hosting Leicester. Given how short both Manchester clubs are to win tonight, this should be the tie of the night. Both sides had draws at the weekend, with Everton happy and Leicester gutted. Not many saw Leicester drawing at home to Norwich and they will need to be back on their A-game tonight with Duncan Ferguson doing a good job at Everton.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Everton 3.05, Leicester 2.38 and the draw is 3.7. Leicester have obviously been excellent this season and Jamie Vardy is in red-hot form. We can’t see any changes from Brendan Rodgers here given the chance to get a semi-final but Leicester look a little short at 2.38. Duncan Ferguson has Everton playing with huge passion at the moment and with the home crowd behind him, we feel Leicester are worth laying at 2.38. We felt they should be closer to 2.5.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Lay Leicester at 2.38.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQEvrLei
MATCH STATS
- This is the first ever meeting between Everton and Leicester City in the League Cup.
- Leicester have won three of their last five away matches in all competitions against Everton (W3 D0 L2), as many as they’d won in their previous 24 visits to Goodison Park beforehand.
- Everton are participating in only their third League Cup quarter-final in the Premier League era, progressing from the other two in 2007/08 against West Ham and 2015/16 against Middlesbrough.
- Leicester City are into their third League Cup quarter-final in as many seasons – they have lost on penalties in the previous two, both against Manchester City. The Foxes last reached the semi-final in the 1999/2000 campaign, going on to win the trophy.
- Everton haven’t won four consecutive League Cup matches since November 1986.
- Brendan Rodgers has progressed from 28 consecutive domestic cup ties (one with Liverpool, 24 with Celtic, three with Leicester), last failing in the FA Cup semi-final with Liverpool in April 2015 against Aston Villa.
- Everton are looking to eliminate two fellow top-flight teams in the same League Cup campaign for the first time since the 1986/87 season, when they eliminated Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday.
- Leicester forward Kelechi Iheanacho has been involved in nine goals in 12 League Cup appearances (6 goals, 3 assists), averaging a goal or assist every 80 minutes of play in the competition.
OXFORD UNITED V MANCHESTER CITY
7.45pm Manchester City got back to winning ways at the weekend against Arsenal, and they should easily deal with Oxford United tonight. The gulf in class between these sides is so big we can hardly expect to see any “magic of the cup” here. Guardiola will be keen to win this competition now too after their hopes of the Premier League title are already gone. Despite that though, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Guardiola rest some of his stars.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Oxford United 24.0, Manchester City 1.14 and the draw is 10.5. It’s close to impossible to see past a City win here. It’s more of a case of “by how many?” rather than will they win. Oxford United come here off the back of three disappointing games too – they’ve failed to even find the net. City should win in style here and Any Other Away Win (Manchester City to score four or more goals and win) is 2.3 in the Correct Score market which looks good value.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Any Other Away Win at 2.3.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQOxfMci
MATCH STATS
- Oxford United and Manchester City met last season in the League Cup third round, with City winning 3-0 at the Kassam Stadium; it is their only previous meeting in the competition.
- In all competitions, Man City have lost none of their last five away visits to Oxford United (W3 D2 L0) since losing 1-0 in September 1985 in a top-flight encounter.
- This is Oxford United’s first League Cup quarter-final since the 1987/88 season, when they beat Man Utd to reach the semi-final where they were eliminated by Luton.
- Since losing to Man Utd in October 2016, Man City have lost none of their 14 matches in the League Cup (W10 D4 L0), winning the competition in each of the last two campaigns.
- Oxford United manager Karl Robinson has eliminated Premier League opponents five times in his managerial career, seeing his side score exactly four goals in every match – MK Dons 4-3 Blackpool (League Cup, 2010), Norwich 0-4 MK Dons (League Cup, 2011), QPR 2-4 MK Dons (FA Cup, 2013), MK Dons 4-0 Man Utd (League Cup, 2014) and Oxford 4-0 West Ham (League Cup, 2019).
- Manchester City have progressed from their last 12 League Cup ties against lower-league opponents since losing on penalties to Brighton in 2008/09 under Mark Hughes.
- Oxford United’s eight goals in the League Cup this season have all been scored via different players (Brannagan, Sykes, Henry, Moore, Taylor, Fosu-Henry, Baptiste, Hall).
- Sergio Agüero has been directly involved in 15 goals in 14 appearances against non- Premier League opponents in domestic cup games for Manchester City (12 goals, 3 assists).
MANCHESTER UNITED V COLCHESTER
8pm After beating Spurs and Manchester City, Manchester United were brought back down to earth by Everton here at the weekend. Everton are playing with great passion under Duncan Ferguson, but it does show how unreliable United are lately. They seem to turn up for the big games and play poorly against the smaller sides. They could easily take this Colchester side too lightly, but they should still get the job done.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Manchester United 1.16, Colchester 25.0 and the draw is 9.4. It would take a brave punter to lump on Manchester United at 1.16 here, but it’s hard to see past them winning. It would be incredible to see Colchester come close to beating United – but the gulf in class just looks too big here. We can see United running out easy winners as they did against AZ Alkmaar here recently and we like Any Other Home Win at 2.44.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Any Other Home Win at 2.44.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQMunCol
MATCH STATS
- This is only the third ever meeting between Manchester United and Colchester United – the Red Devils won the other two, 1-0 in the FA Cup in 1979 and 2-0 in the League Cup in 1983.
- Colchester are set to play their first ever away match against Man Utd in any competition – each of the last six English teams to play their first away game against the Red Devils have lost, most recently Crawley Town in 2011 – the last to win their first such game was Wimbledon in May 1987.
- Manchester United have been eliminated from three of their last five League Cup quarter-finals, losing most recently in 2017/18 against Bristol City.
- This is Colchester’s first appearance in the League Cup quarter-final since 1974/75, when they faced Aston Villa and lost 2-1. Their gap of 45 seasons between quarter-final appearances is the second longest ever, behind only Cardiff City’s 46-season gap between 1965/66 and 2011/12.
- Manchester United have progressed from all 10 of their previous League Cup ties against fourth-tier opposition, most recently in October 2011 against Aldershot Town.
- Colchester have already eliminated two Premier League teams in the 2019/20 League Cup – Crystal Palace in the second round and Spurs in the third round. Only one fourth-tier team has eliminated three in one season, with Bradford City doing so in 2012/13 on their way to the final (Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa).
- Man Utd manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has progressed from all four of his League Cup ties as a manager – two with Cardiff City in 2014/15 and two with Manchester United this season.
- Colchester are looking to become the first English side from outside the top-three tiers of English football to win away at Manchester United since Portsmouth in a January 1907 FA Cup first round replay – Pompey were then a non-league side.
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