It’s often seen as one of the most undesirable and unwanted
competitions but the Carling Cup may provide us one of the best and most
obvious bets of the season with Chelsea and Manchester City looking to be the
best bets of the tournament.
Much has been said and made of Jose Mournihio’s return and
even more of his first XI and squad choices in the early part of the season,
but whatever one may make of those decisions, no-one can take away from the
immense depth that his squad boasts and in a competition that has been reduced
to second and third sides until the very latter stages, that makes his side
worthy favourites.
A summer spending splurge has bought several of Europe’s
most talented midfielders to club, and Mournihio has an overload of talent to call
upon. If Juan Mata is still left outside the main plans than he could be the
centrefold of the Blues in this competition, while if the same applies to David
Luiz then Chelsea will have two players of the highest quality.
Marco Van Ginkel wasn’t even in the squad for Saturday’s win
against Chelsea while Andre Schurrle and Kevin De Brune may both see time in
these midweek fixtures. As with Chelsea’s first team, there’s a slight worry
that their options upfront aren’t what they could be, but Fernando Torres is
doing far better now than he was when starting at the club and Demba Ba is the
aerial presence that Chelsea could need on the road.
Cezar Azpiculetta,, Michael Essien, Frank Lampare, and
Willian were all on the bench for that game and could form the core of a side
which would have to be taken seriously for any of the four major trophies, and
with such quality in the side it’s hard to see them ever fielding a ‘weak’ side
in this competition. There’s always the potential of a nasty clash against a fellow
big 6 member, but they beat Manchester United last year in extra time and have
far more strength in depth than most of their top table rivals, so make appeal
at 5/1 to give Jose – who has won Cups in Portugal, England (including this
competition before), Italy and Spain – yet another trophy.
Manchester United’s poor midfield performances make backing
them a serious issue and a third round tie against Liverpool could go either
way, while Arsenal’s squad depth – despite a rich flow of younger talent coming
through the ranks – is an issue. Tottenham make more appeal given the summer
influx of signings that now give them options in midfield and out side like
Erik Lamela for this tournament. However Tottenham’s chase for fourth will take
priority and head coach Andre Villas-Boas’s argument last that the scheduling
of tonight’s match away to Aston Villa-
his team's third in six days - was "putting the players' careers at
risk" – is offputting.
Manchester City may be second favourites but make more appeal
than the rest of the top sides. This will obviously be the least of their
issues but their four strong strikeforce of Jovetic, Negredo, Aguero and Dzeko
may be utilised – certainly Jovetic needs time to get upto match fitness –
while a midfield could include James Milner. Micah Richards and Javi Garcia
could be asked to defend and the giant Costel Pantimillion has looked
impressive at times in goal. Away form is a potential worry for a side that
sometimes doesn’t travel well but Pellegrini’s more open attacking style should
help them and they’re worth a punt still.
Of the other Premiership sides – the Championship may hold a
contender but resources are drained at best – elsewhere, as previously referred
to, Everton might be best. Sixth in the league for the past two years running,
they look to be adapting quickly to Roberto Martinez’s style and if making it past
Fulham – who are close to the bottom and likely to have issues with being
involved in a potential relegation scrap, like many Premier League clubs in the
lower ranks of the table – and going deep enough into the competition, they’ve
got the quality to launch a winning challenge if taking things seriously.
Advice
2 pts Chelsea (5/1 Bet Victor)
2 pts Manchester City (6/1 general)
1 pt each/way Everton (16/1 general)
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