Following a pulsating weekend of Premier League action, all eyes – or at least some – turn to the Capital One Cup where it is the Fourth Round.
Sixteen teams remain; 12 (Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd, Norwich, Reading, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham and Wigan) ply their trade in the top-flight, 2 (Leeds and Middlesbrough) in the Championship, 1 (Swindon) in League One, while 1 (Bradford) remains from League Two.
A lot of credit to the lower league duo of Bradford and Swindon, who both have plump ties considering the make-up of the final sixteen is mainly that of the Premier League. Paulo Di Canio’s Swindon welcome struggling Aston Villa to The County Ground, while Bradford head to Greater Manchester to tackle Wigan. Both are big prices to win their ties outright on Tuesday, at 5/2 and 10/1 respectively.
Just about every tie has some form of intrigue. Here are my thoughts on Tuesday’s ties which aren’t shown live on Sky Sports.
Leeds V Southampton
The passionate home following at Elland Road will provide Premiership Southampton with more to contend with than the merely the opposition, who are a Leeds side who have gone off the boil of late down in the Championship having suffered a shock 1-0 reverse at home to Birmingham on Saturday. The Saints, though, well they’ve made a dismal start to life in the top-flight and have been conceding on average three goals a game. Nigel Adkins’ team fell to their seventh defeat of the season of Sunday, but were victorious on both occasions when they clashed with Leeds in last season’s Championship.
Saints manager Nigel Adkins had decided to rotate his squad for earlier round clashes with Stevenage (1-4) and Sheffield Wednesday (2-0), but he may think twice about adopting a similar approach here. That’s because his opposite number has named close to his starting XI in every round so far, reaping the rewards with resounding victories over Shrewsbury (4-0) and Oxford (3-0) before claiming a shock yet thoroughly deserved 2-1 success over high-flying Everton. However, stronger personnel in the visiting team should go some way to countering the partisan atmosphere Leeds thrive off at Elland Road… the draw definitely appeals at 13/5 with StanJames!
Sunderland V Middlesbrough
There is a tussle in the north-east as well as Sunderland host Middlesbrough, with the pair having made contrasting starts to the new term. The former have found goals incredibly difficult to come by with only six mustered from their opening eight league matches, and as a result reside in 14th having won once all season, whereas ‘Boro have been averaging close to two goals per game down in the Championship and, following their fourth consecutive league victory at the weekend, are now up to third.
Martin O’Neill should select a very competitive team for this fixture, which will boost their claims of reaching the Fifth Round substantially. However Middlesbrough are flying at the minute and will be brimming with confidence following four straight wins in the league. I’m struggling to separate them; Sunderland’s class may well tell but Middlesbrough have goals in them. I would side with the draw personally, with another wager on Both Teams Scoring @ 10/11 with SkyBet. The Black Cats have struggled for goals in the Premier League but should appreciate the temporary drop in standard.
Swindon V Aston Villa
Swindon are establishing a reputation for being giant-killers in the cups under Paulo Di Canio, so I wouldn’t put it past them to dump out hapless Aston Villa. They’re at home, too, are The Robins, so it’s bound to be a feverish atmosphere at The County Ground, where last season Wigan fell in the fourth round of the FA Cup. This season, however, Swindon have already claimed the scalps of Championship high-flyers Brighton (3-0), and even Stoke City of the Premier League, astonishingly beating the latter 4-3 at fortress Brittania in a game they led on four occasions!
Whether Swindon’s victory over Stoke was more impressive than Villa’s 4-2 triumph at Man City is up for debate, but Villa are in a right mess at the minute and do appear a team devoid of confidence. Their league form has been dire but here, in the League Cup, they have a fantastic opportunity to get back to winning ways. So I expect an ultra competitive side to be named by Villa boss Paul Lambert, who desperately needs a positive result on Tuesday in order to deflect some of the negative spotlight currently on him and his team due to their lacklustre displays elsewhere in the league this season. Darren Bent will lead the line and he looks a solid bet to notch first (11/2 with Bet365) in a Villa victory, at decent odds of 6/5 with Bet365.
Wigan V Bradford
Lastly, in terms of the ties not shown live on TV, Wigan host Bradford. It’s difficult to envisage an upset here. Even though Wigan are the perennial strugglers of the Premier League, they are still several classes above the opposition and should make their collective quality tell at The DW. The Latics have actually been prolific in the competition so far, notching four in both the second and third round, in very tidy away wins over Nottingham Forest and West Ham. So it could be a rout. Having said that, Bradford’s list of scalps merits respect having dumped out inform Notts County of League One (0-1), Championship side Watford (1-2), and League Two Burton (3-2).
Pretty much every neutral will be supporting Bradford from their armchairs, with the odds well and truly stacked against the League Two side. They may have half a chance if Roberto Martinez decides to mix things up by handing those on the periphery of his squad some game time, as he has tended to do in the earlier rounds. The one thing he has kept is the same defensive line-up, which could be all-important; Wigan shouldn’t find goals a problem, not against this calibre of opposition, so if a familiar-looking defence keeps matters ship-tight at the back, then it should be a routine win for the Latics who are around evens to win without conceding on PaddyPower!
Recommeded Bets
Leeds V Southampton to Draw @ 13/5 (StanJames)
Both Teams to Score in Sunderland V Middlesbrough @ 10/11 (SkyBet)
