What do Marouane Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj, and John Stones & Mason Holgate have in common? The Manchester United and Everton duos both face homecomings in the next round of midweek fixtures. Fellaini and Januzaj travel to their native Belgium as the Red Devils look to seal a place in the Champions League group stage by seeing off Club Brugge after the former score a vital goal in a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford. Meanwhile, Stones and Holgate are part of an Everton side travelling to the less glamorous surrounds of Barnsley, as the Toffees head to Oakwell to take on the Tykes in the Capital One Cup.
A number of Premier League clubs will be looking to avoid upsets in the second round of the Leauge Cup, and Stoke City are chief amongst them. Mark Hughes’ Potters are away to League Two Luton Town, who secured their first League Cup win since 2008 by taking the scalp of Championship side Bristol City. Concurrent to the Capital One Cup ties are a number of Champions League play-off second leg matches, featuring Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen’s attempt to overcome Serie A outfit Lazio’s 1-0 lead. Be it in Leverkusen or Luton, Brugge or Barnsley, there is a profit to be made from betting in midweek and we’ll sniff it out!
- Luton Town vs Stoke City – Level after 90 minutes (11/4 at Sky Bet)
- Barnsley vs Everton – Everton to win (8/13 at Sky Bet)
- Club Brugge vs Manchester United – Both teams to score (8/11 at Bet365)
- Bayer Leverkusen vs Lazio – Bayer Leverkusen to qualify (11/8 at Bet365)
Luton Town vs Stoke City – 25th August
Mark Hughes has lofty ambitions for his Stoke side, and two targets are silverware and a place in Europe. Both can be achieved with a Capital One Cup win but the road to glory must have humble beginnings, and the Potters begin with a trip to Kenilworth Road to take on a Luton Town side with ambitions of their own. After falling just short of reaching the League Two play-offs in their first season back in the Football League in 2008-09, John Still’s side are looking to go one better and reach League One. However, the Hatters have had an issue with conceding last minute goals recently, squandering a lead to draw with Oxford United and losing 1-0 at home to Bristol Rovers due to a last minute strike. Luton will have to have much more bottle if they are to defeat Stoke.
Hughes’ determination to see Stoke lift silverware will most likely see him field a strong team at Kenilworth Road. New signings Joselu, Jakob Haugaard and Ibrahim Afellay will most likely feature, but it would be a surprise to see the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri lining up against the League Two outfit. Luton will go for it, and whilst a second string Stoke side will include a number of quality players, they may not quite be prepared for the challenge of a wet Tuesday night in Bedfordshire. Ironic, if you think about. Sky Bet are offering 11/4 on the scores being level after 90 minutes. Whether Stoke can pull it out of the bag in extra time or even via a penalty shoot-out is up to you.
- Level after 90 minutes – 11/4 at Sky Bet
Barnsley vs Everton – 26th August
Two prodigal sons at different points on the same path will return home in the royal blue of Everton on Wednesday – John Stones and Mason Holgate rock up at Oakwell, the home of Barnsley, the club that brought them into professional football. Stones made the move to Everton in January 2013, and has since become the most talented and coveted young centre back in the country, courted openly by Premier League champions Chelsea among others. At 18-years-old, Holgate’s development has only just started, but he will hope to follow in Stones’ footsteps. If the pair are in the Everton squad for this Capital One Cup second round tie, they will be tasked with preventing their old club from causing a major upset.
Barnsley have cause for confidence, too; despite losing a number of players this summer, including Holgate and first-choice goalkeeper Ross Turnbull, Lee Johnson has retained the core of his squad while making shrewd additions. Fellow League One side Scunthorpe were defeated on penalties in the last round, but Premier League ever-presents Everton will provide a much tougher test. In previous seasons Barnsley would have fancied themselves against what would have been a weakened Everton side, but this season Roberto Martinez and a number of players have highlighted the Capital One Cup as a chance to bring silverware to Goodison Park after a 20-year wait and therefore the Toffees will field a strong side. Oakwell is a tough place to go, but Everton should have enough to prevail. Sky Bet are offering 8/13 on Roberto Martinez’s Blues to do just that and we fancy that’s a nice bet.
- Everton to win – 8/13 at Sky Bet
Club Brugge vs Manchester United – 26th August
It was expected to be straightforward, but for Manchester United it was anything but. Old Trafford was stunned as, in the early stages of the game, Michael Carrick stretched to clear a Club Brugge free-kick but inadvertently diverted the ball past Sergio Romero to give the Belgian side the lead. The Red Devils needed some magic to turn the tie around, and it was summer signing Memphis Depay who provided it. The Dutchman struck twice, the second a sumptuous curling effort, to give Manchester United the lead. The scoreline remained 2-1 and United’s chances of progression were still very much in the balance until Marouane Fellaini popped up deep into stoppage time to nod home a third. With United 3-1 up on aggregate going into the second leg, Louis van Gaal will feel very confident of progression.
Everything points to goals in this one. Manchester United may lead 3-1 but they will be aware that an early Brugge strike would give the home side all the momentum in front of their own fans. Therefore, United will likely try to strike early to kill off the tie and notch an away goal of their own. The likes of Depay, Januzaj and even the misfiring Wayne Rooney provide the arsenal with which Louis van Gaal’s side can punish their hosts. Michel Preud-homme’s men have no choice but to chase a win by two or more goals to secure progression, and they will go all out to grab goals. With that in mind the 8/11 offered by Bet365 for both teams to score sounds like a very good option.
- Both teams to score – 8/11 at Bet365
Bayer Leverkusen vs Lazio – 26th August
As expected, it was a tight affair in Rome as Lazio and Bayer Leverkusen clashed at the Stadio Olimpico. Lars Bender hit the post in the first half for the Bundesliga side, just a minute before German Miroslav Klose struck the woodwork for the hosts. Leverkusen came close to grabbing a vital away goal, with Hakan Calhanoglu almost scoring from the halfway line before having a goal chalked out in the second half. Just eight minutes after Leverkusen had been denied by the offside flag, Lazio struck, with substitute Keita firing low into the bottom corner to provide the Italians with a vital advantage going into the second leg.
Despite being a goal down on aggregate, Bayer Leverkusen will fancy their chances in front of their own fans at the BayArena. The likes of Calhanoglu and Stefan Kießling provide real attacking impetus, while the side from Nordrhein-Westfalen have got used to appearing in the Champions League group stages and Roger Schmidt will be desperate to ensure his side return there this season. Lazio will set out to defend, but should Leverkusen strike early Stefano Pioli’s game plan would be in tatters. Bet365’s 11/8 on Leverkusen qualifying for the group stage is definitely worth taking.
- Bayer Leverkusen to qualify – 11/8 at Bet365