Manchester United good bet to retain League Cup crown
Man Utd’s second string thrashed Burton on Wednesday to set up a trip to Swansea in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup. The 4-1 victory highlighted the strength in depth available to Jose Mourinho this season, while the inclusion of Marcus Rashford showed he is taking the competition seriously. Mourinho has always treated the league cup with plenty of respect as he knows that winning it in February can boost the morale of the squad and help them push for greater honours in the final third of the campaign. The Red Devils won this competition last season and now look like they have a great chance of defending it this time around.
Utd’s win was emphatic and they will go into the Swansea game full of confidence. An attack of Rashford, Juan Mata, Anothony Martial and Jesse Lingard was far too hot for Burton to handle, and that quarter should easily be good enough to see off Swansea. The Swans fielded a pretty strong team as they beat Reading, but they have bigger fish to fry this season as they are likely to find themselves locked in a relegation battle once more and could probably do without the distraction of the Carabao Cup. Man Utd, however, have a big enough squad to seriously compete on all fronts. A defence of Daley Blind, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof and Matteo Darmian is very competitive indeed, as is a midfield of Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick. Mourinho may opt to field an even stronger against Swansea as they are Premiership opposition, but the 4-0 victory the Red Devils secured at the Liberty Stadium earlier this year will give them cause for optimism.
There are just 16 teams left in the cup and Man Utd are second favourites. Check out a review of sportsbetting.ag and you will see that it offers a great range of competitive odds, and you could do well to back Utd here if you can get around the 5/1 mark. Man City are the 4/1 favourites, while Chelsea are also 5/, followed by Arsenal at 6/1 and Spurs at 8/1. Chelsea battered Nottingham Forest but they have a small squad and are unlikely to take this competition too seriously, while a fourth round tie against Everton will be tricky to negotiate. The same can be said of Spurs, who could only beat Barnsley 1-0 in the third round and do not have all that much talent beneath their exceptionally gifted starting 11. Teams with big squads are the ones to worry about and Man City and to a lesser extent Arsenal fit the bill.
The Gunners fielded an attack of Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott against Doncaster in their third round tie, with Jack Wilshere pulling the strings, and they have the squad size to have a go in this competition. Their 1-0 victory was uninspiring, but a home tie against Norwich should see them through to the quarter-finals and then anything could happen. While Tottenham and Chelsea are taking the Champions League very seriously, Arsenal are not bothering too much with the Europa League, and this could free up resources for the Carabao Cup. However, Arsene Wenger has never taken the competition too seriously and has not won it in his 21-year tenure.
The biggest threat to Man Utd defending their crown is the noisy neighbours. They have an excellent second 11 and fielded several hundred million pounds’ worth of talent as they beat a spirited West Brom side to move into the fourth round. Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva and Yaya Toure formed an exciting attacking quartet, while the defence was pretty strong too. It looks as though the cup should be heading to Manchester, and it could be decided by a showdown between the clubs. If that happens, you would expect Mourinho to field the strongest team available to him and that could see Utd emerge victorious. The 5/1 on them winning this competition looks a great bet.