As we enter the latter stages of the Carabao Cup, all eight teams remaining will want to go into the new year with their place in the semi-final secured.
Tomorrow, Leicester host last year’s champions Manchester City, while Middlesbrough face Burton Albion in a match involving the only two sides that aren’t in the Premier League.
Wednesday sees Arsenal take on Tottenham in a north London derby and Chelsea play Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Our betting expert is here to take you through some of the best bets from these ties.
Leicester v Manchester City
Leicester may consider themselves fortunate to still be in the competition after progressing on penalties in the last round against Southampton. However, having drawn Man City in the quarter-final, they’ll need all the luck they can get to win here and they rightly go in underdogs at 13/2 with Grosvenorsport.com.
Man City remain the favourites to lift the Carabao Cup for the second year running and they are expected to come through this one comfortably, with the bookies placing them odds on favourite at 5/6.
Having come back from injury, I expect Kevin De Bruyne to get the start here to try and regain full fitness, and at 3/1 he’s an attractive price to score anytime.
Middlesbrough v Burton
This tie presents a great chance for a non-Premier League side to reach the semi-final. Despite going winless in four matches, Middlesbrough must be confident being a division above their opponents and at 4/11, they are heavy favourites.
Burton Albion boss Nigel Clough has a good record in this competition having previously reached the semi-final with Sheffield United in 2015. A win here is a tough ask but 7/1 to win in 90 minutes is very good value.
Tony Pulis’ teams tend to be very organised and resolute at the back, with 11/2 for a 1-0 home win looking a good bet to me.
Arsenal v Tottenham
The Carabao Cup has served up a treat as Arsenal host their north London rivals Tottenham in a mouth-watering quarter-final. The Gunners face their biggest test of the competition so far, having not played a Premier League side during their Carabao Cup campaign. With the home advantage, the Gunners go in favourites at 11/8.
Spurs, meanwhile, have had to progress the hard way with wins against Watford and West Ham. Winning this competition 10 years ago may give Mauricio Pochettino’s men the motivation to repeat that feat, but at 13/8, they go into this match underdogs.
With so much at stake between the two teams, I can see this one being a tense affair. I can’t predict the winner but a penalty to be awarded at 2/1 offers good value.
Chelsea v Bournemouth
The final match sees Chelsea host Bournemouth in a repeat of last year’s quarter-final. After scraping past Derby in the last round, Mauricio Sarri’s men will need an improved performance if they are to progress further in this competition. Having said that, a win here last year on top of a comfortable 2-0 victory against the Cherries earlier in the season makes the Blues favourites at 1/4.
Eddie Howe’s men are going through a rough patch at the moment with six defeats in seven, and at 9/1, the bookies see them as big underdogs.
Given Bournemouth’s form, I expect a comfortable victory for the Chelsea. With Sarri giving fringe players the chance to prove themselves in this competition, I expect Ruben Loftus-Cheek to start and, given his recent form, 10/1 for the Englishman to open the scoring looks a good bet to me.
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