Carling Cup- United Look Set for Final
With a home match against title rivals Chelsea coming up this Sunday it’s pretty safe to assume that Manchester United will be fielding a team missing a few of their big names.
Even without their major stars United will still have players like Fletcher, Anderson and Tevez in their line up and it’s not too hard to see why bookmakers have them as hot favourites to win tonight.
United are 4/9 (Ladbrokes) and even if they are under strength they still look a half decent price to get a win.
Derby have been a team on the slide for quite some time now and the departure of Paul Jewel is no real surprise as he must have been frustrated by the way things were going. The appointment of Nigel Clough as their new manager will be extremely popular with the fans at Derby and there’s no doubt the club will be boosted by his arrival.
You have to be realistic though and one win from their last eight league matches doesn’t inspire much confidence from a betting point of view, especially against a top team like United. Derby were involved in a thrilling FA C up tie against Forest Green at the weekend and will be on a high after their comeback to grab victory. That Cup match nearly ended in total embarrassment for Derby and if they defend against United the same way they did against Forest Green you have to think they could be in for a torrid time.
It’s likely that Derby will go for safety first tonight and try to keep it tight at the back and go from there. We can’t see then being a potent attacking force and even at 6/1 (Partybets) we don’t think they are great value. Given how Derby have been playing and even taking into consideration United’s likely team selection double thise odds would be a more realistic price in our opinion.
If Derby defend really well and United have an off night then it is possible they could snatch a draw 10/3 (Paddypower), but there are far too many if’s and buts’ for that result to be backed with any hint of confidence.
We expect Derby to be quite defensive and we aren’t expecting a goal rush from United. The 2-0 correct score is available at 11/2 (Partybets) and looks worth a bet.
Danny Welbeck at 6/1 (VCbet) to be first goalscorer is worth chancing especially as United look likely to be fielding fringe players.