Matt’s Carling Cup Picks – Tuesday 22nd September

Sports Betting Tips

 

Yay… It’s the Carling Cup. I’m so excited at the prospect of seeing several supposed bankers flopping as managers wait to the last minute to decide that they actually will field a pathetic starting eleven in an attempt to pretty much forfeit the competition altogether. Yes, English domestic football is great.

 

Anyone who can pick out a handful of winners tomorrow night deserves some sort of medal as not even we’re sure what sort of performance some teams will put in. However, i suppose that’s what some folk love about cup competitions, you weird lot.

 

We have made a brief list of tips of which we think have a good chance of succeeding. Good Luck if you think you’ve got the urge and knowledge to pick a few potential winners.

 

Sunday’s Tips:

 

Winners8

Losers 3

 

Strike Rate72%

 

 

 

Carling Cup

 

 

Arsenal V West Bromwich Albion: BOTH teams to SCORE – 5/6 PaddyPower

 

Barnsley V Burnley: Barnsley to Qualify – 6/5 Boylesports

 

Leeds United V Liverpool: BOTH teams to SCORE – 8/11 PaddyPower

 

Nottingham Forest V Blackburn Rovers: Nottingham Forest to WIN – 9/4 BetFred

 

 

 

Strongest Tip:

 

Leeds United V Liverpool: BOTH teams to SCORE – 8/11 PaddyPower

 

Leeds will be more excited about this tie than Liverpool but Rafael Benitez will still eye this cup game as a glorious opportunity to give some of his fringe players a bit of a run out and keep some of the moaning bench warmers some vital pitch time, not mentioning any names of course – Ryan Babel. Leeds, however, will see this tie as their 15 minutes of fame and they will do their utmost to roll back the clocks and record a rare and not so recent victory over Liverpool at Elland Road. The last time these two met was back in 2004 when the pair played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in the Premiership. My how the might have fallen.

 

Rafael Benitez will hand the likes of Ryan Babel, Jay Spearing, David N’gog, Andriy Voronin, Philip Degan & that unconvincing Brazilian goalkeeper – Diego Cavalieri, a rare starting place as Benitez looks to get the remainder of his Liverpool squad in tip-top shape in terms of match fitness. However, some players have been bemoaning Benitez’s reluctance to give them their chance to shine in the Premiership so they will see this as a good opportunity to put their name in the frame for Liverpool’s  forthcoming game with Hull at Anfield this Saturday.

 

It’s going to be a sell out at Elland Road and the pressure will be on the home side to put in a big performance against a former bitter league rival. Simon Grayson would ideally like to rest a few of his key players as well but with the fans coming out in force to cheer Leeds on, Grayson may be under the cosh to field a very strong side ahead of the arrival of Liverpool to Elland Road. We wouldn’t stick on house on it but we expect Simon Grayson to start with a very strong side, possibly Jermaine Beckford up front, Bradley Johnson just behind, both scored on Saturday, while Robert Snodgrass and Jonny Howson could also get a rare opportunity to shine against Liverpool.

 

Leeds will desperatly want to put in a good performance against an inform Liverpool side and their striking duo of Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio shouldn’t find life too hard against a shaky Diego Cavalieri. Liverpool, however, will have a team of misfits aiming to shove their names into Benitez’s mindset ahead of their weekend fixture with Hull. They will be eager to impress the gaffer and although Leeds have kept it tidy at the back this season, conceding just four goals in League One, Liverpool have too much quality to make us think that they won’t embrace the score sheet either.

 

This actually does have the makings to be a really good game at Elland Road. Goals are the preferred choice of selection as well as a punt on both teams scoring within 90 minutes.

 

 

Some other interesting selections on this game:

 

Jermaine Beckford to Score within 90 minutes – 5/2 Coral

Ryan Babel to Score within 90 minutes – 2/1 Bet365

Over 3.5 Goals – 2/1 PaddyPower