A tentative outright play in Carabao Cup semi
Liverpool welcome Arsenal for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi final tie this Thursday. The Reds are coming in off the back of a comfortable win over Shrewsbury Town, which was not without its challenges, compared to a momentum-stalling 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest for Arsenal in a match where the Gunners did not register a single shot on target. Jurgen Klopp has had a very inconsistent relationship with the domestic cup competitions in recent years but has gone on to name some strong sides in the competition this season. It will be interesting to see what line-ups are announced on Thursday and how that affects the prices. This will definitely be a match to wait for team news before having a bet, as I probably say in a general rule of thumb in all domestic cup competitions.
Background
Because this is a semi final, you would think that it would take priority not reflecting which fixture each team has coming up at the weekend. However, that is a thing of the past and the schedule could dictate how strong of a side the managers go with. Liverpool play Brentford at Anfield after this match, a game they will be heavy favourites in as the Bees’ early season good form has dropped off.
The Gunners face an enormous North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which could result in them falling out of the Champions League places. Arguably a bigger fixture than this one, but Arteta will be keen to take a positive result to erase the memory of their lacklustre display at the City Ground.
Goals?
In a first leg unders is typically a go to angle, however, Liverpool have been so brilliant going forward this season it is not an angle I will be engaging in.
- Liverpool have scored in nine of ten.
- Liverpool have conceded in eight of ten.
- Liverpool have seen both teams score in seven of ten.
- Liverpool have seen over 2.5 goals in seven of ten.
- Arsenal have scored in nine of ten.
- Arsenal have conceded in six of ten.
- Arsenal have seen both teams score in five of ten.
- Arsenal have seen over 2.5 goals in seven of ten.
It remains to be seen what kind of impact the loss at Forest will have on this youthful squad. I am sceptical about whether they can sustain the levels they have shown this season, largely with a kind fixture list and with Tottenham breathing down their neck, this could be a tricky run for Arteta.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
An impressive 0-0 draw for the ten-man Gunners.