There’s plenty of mid-week football to sink your teeth into this week including the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. Leicester were handed a difficult test at home to Manchester City and West Ham face a fairly daunting test in north London against Arsenal. There’s another all-Premier League clash on Wednesday between Antonio Conte’s Chelsea and Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth.
One non-top flight club remains in the competition, Bristol City, and they have their work cut out if they are to make it a stage further as they take on Manchester United. Elsewhere in the continent there is a fascinating looking DFB-Pokal clash between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Tuesday 19th December 2017
Arsenal v West Ham United (19:45) – Under 2.5 goals (6/5 with Ladbrokes)
The two sides met in a Premier League recently in a game that ended goalless. Although the woodwork was hit three times, neither side was able to create too many real openings for themselves in a game which saw defences more on top. Things may have been different had Alexander Lacazette started for the Gunners but he was given a rest on the bench. The same may happen again here as Arsene Wenger has a history of rotating his squad for this competition.
Whenever the Frenchman has left key players out though, Arsenal have still managed to keep it tight at the back. They’ve let in just the one goal in this competition and are on four consecutive clean sheets in the Europa League. As for West Ham, they showed plenty of defensive steel when managing to shut the door on Chelsea and Arsenal earlier in the month. The Hammers aren’t yet looking too dangerous in attack for their new manager though so this could well be another low scoring contest between these sides.
Leicester City v Manchester City (19:45) – Both teams to score (4/5 with Coral)
Leicester are enjoying a revival under Claude Puel and the Foxes have been climbing up the Premier League table since the Frenchman’s arrival. They may have lost to City last month without putting up much of a fight but confidence has grown in the Leicester camp since. They played with real incisiveness during the 3-2 win away at Newcastle and the 4-1 at Southampton. Goals are flowing for the Foxes right now and as they tend to come more easily on home soil, the hosts look set to score here.
What makes it seem more likely Leicester will convert here is that an injury hit City defence has not been managing too many clean sheets of late. This is something which has led Pep Guardiola to express his desire to bolster his defensive ranks in the January transfer window. The Spaniard can have absolutely no concerns with his attacking options however. The Citizens have netted for fun this season, scoring at least once in all their away matches so it seems safe to say they’ll find the back of the net here.
Wednesday 20th December 2017
Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth (19:45) – Chelsea to win 1-0 (7/1 with Betfred)
Chelsea won this competition three seasons ago and they’ll be expecting to reach the semi-finals at the very least this year. Stamford Bridge is not a place they lose many games and Antonio Conte’s back-up men have shown they can impress. They did so in the third round when the Blues thrashed Nottingham Forest 5-1 and a half-strength side also had the beating of Qarabag 6-0 in the Champions League. With several fresh legs who are keen to impress here, you can expect a decent showing from the home side.
Eddie Howe would love to get his hands on some silverware and he’s seen his side battle hard to reach this stage, beating Birmingham, Brighton and Middlesbrough. They pushed Man United all the way in their last away game but the 1-0 defeat is one we could well see a repeat of here. The visitors should have enough grit and organisation to stop Chelsea scoring too many but the visitors do tend to look a little light upfront against the top English clubs.
Bristol City v Manchester United (20:00) – Bristol City to win with a +2 handicap (17/20 with Coral)
Slender victories against Brighton, Bournemouth and CSKA Moscow plus defeat at home to rivals Man City isn’t the record of a side playing at the top of their game. What’s unlikely to help United reach top gear here is the squad rotation Jose Mourinho will likely employ. This game marks the first of four in 10 days and Mourinho will surely rest some stars for this clash, increasing the chances of a potential upset.
Bristol City have done exceptionally well to make it this far in the competition having faced three Premier League sides already. They’ve seen off Watford, Stoke and Crystal Palace so there’s reason to think they’ll put up a real fight here. Boss Lee Johnson will surely field a full strength side as he looks for an even bigger scalp. The Robins have lost only one game at Ashton Gate by more than a goal margin so against an underperforming United side, a +2 handicap cannot be ignored.
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (19:45) – Under 3.5 goals (20/23 with BetVictor)
Given the amount of goals Borussia Dortmund have conceded this year, backing under 3.5 goals may seem like an unusual pick. Many of their defensive woes came down to the management of the now-sacked Peter Bosz however. His replacement, Peter Stoger, should help tighten things up at the back and the Austrian was able to begin his Dortmund career by securing a clean sheet against Mainz. Incredibly, this was Dortmund’s first clean sheet against a top flight side since a 3-0 win over Hamburg in September.
As good as both teams are going forwards, this fixture has often not produced that many goals. Four of the last eight meetings have seen under 2.5 and when the two German giants meet, they often sit back a little more than they usually would. Bayern have been impressive since Jupp Heynckes replaced Carlo Ancelotti, conceding just two goals at the Allianz. They do offer appeal for the win as a result but much better odds are available in opting for this being a fairly low scoring match.