Previews

Carling Cup makes its return

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 26/10/2009
Football betting

Barnsley, Peterborough and Scunthorpe are the jokers in this week's Carling Cup fourth round pack, with Manchester United, City and Blackburn all in line for potential upsets.

Unusually, it is online betting favourites United who are perhaps the most exposed.

Can United win this season's Carling Cup? - Latest Football Betting

Their side for the third round featured only four players that have started recently and of those four, Gary Neville, Michael Carrick and Michael Owen were played in the Carling Cup mainly to help build match fitness.

If they follow a similar plan for the trip to Barnsley they could come unstuck.

Despite that potential pitfall, a side made up of reserves and the

recently-fit could actually shape up well.

Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park and Owen Hargreaves are among those who could play for fitness reasons, while the likes of Danny Welbeck and Darron Gibson have developed well over the past two years.

The Carling Cup holders are also facing a form championship team and a side with recent experience of cup runs.

In 2007/08 Barnsley beat Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup fifth round and, in the quarter-finals, pipped Chelsea 1-0 in front of 23,000 fans at Oakwell.

They have since swapped Simon Davey for the inexperienced Mark Robins in the dugout, a change that has revitalised the club in October.

Peterborough will also fancy their chances against a Blackburn side that remain more concerned with their league position that a cup win, although Posh are struggling in their first season in the Championship.

Man City look set to resist the temptation to put out a second string side after their first choice eleven needed extra time to beat Fulham in the third round.

The Blues are also helped by playing on the Wednesday, giving their stars an extra day's rest.

The glamour tie of the round is Arsenal at home to Liverpool, although again both clubs should be at far from full strength.

Even if that is the case, the two giants rarely bore their crowds when they clash - in only two of the past 18 meetings between the clubs have one side failed to score, while they haven't played out a 0-0 draw for 10 years.

Last season's losing finalists, Spurs, are involved in the other stand-out tie of the round.

Harry Redknapp's side host Everton on Tuesday and neither side will be considering giving their under 21s a run-out.

The Toffees were embarrassed last season when a full strength side lost 1-0 to an experimental Blackburn team in the third round.

To make matters worse, Rovers handed a debut to former Liverpool hero Robbie Fowler, who promptly set up the winning goal against his old enemy.

David Moyes looked determined not to suffer a similar fate this year,

hammering Hull 4-0 at the KC Stadium.

Spurs were in a similarly clinical mood, putting five past hapless Preston the same evening. Few would be surprised if the winner of this tie goes on to Wembley in February.

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