Carling Cup- Burnley Have a Mountain To Climb
Burnley will need to put in a performance that’s out of this world if they are to progress to the Carling Cup Final. They meet the holders of the trophy Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor and need to overcome a 4-1 deficit against their Premier League opponents to go through.
For the first 45 minutes in the first game Burnley more than held their own and outplayed and outfought their more illustrious opponents. Burnley showed they are a good footballing side in that first half and if they can produce that quality for 90 minutes tonight, they can get a win. It’s hard to see them pulling back three goals and actually winning the tie, but they will have a chance of winning the game tonight.
Burnley are 12/5 (Ladbrokes) to win tonight and we think that’s a possibility. Burnley haven’t been beaten too often at home this season (Three times) and Tottenham have only won twice in the league away from home this season, so you have to give Burnley a chance.
Tottenham have definitely improved since the arrival of Harry Redknapp and a trip to Wembley will surely give his players a boost in their fight for survival in the Premiership. Spurs would have to be truly shocking tonight to let a three goal advantage slip, but there have been times this season when they have been awful defensively, so the player will still have to work hard tonight or the tie could slip away from them.
On current form we don’t think Spurs are capable of going to Burnley and getting a win and although 13/10 (Bet365) looks a pretty tempting price, we won’t be taking it.
The draw is on offer at 23/10 (Bodog) and with Spurs having drawn four of their last nine matches the chances of the game finishing all square after 90 minutes looks pretty good.
With a pretty open match in prospect and the fact that Burnley really have to give it a go a bet on the over 2.5 goals at 4/5 (Paddypower) looks worth a bet.
We’re going for the night to end in glorious failure for Burnley, with them winning the match, but losing the tie. The 3-1 33/1 (Skybet) and 3-2 39/1 (Betfair) correct scorelines are the two that hold some interest for us and we’ll be having a small stake on both.
If you fancy a first goalscorer bet then Martin Paterson 13/2 (Paddypower) for Burnley or Tottenham’s David Bentley 12/1 (Ladbrokes) are the two we’d consider.