Carling Cup Semi-Finals
Following the excitement of the FA Cup our attention now turns to the Carling Cup semi-finals which get underway this evening. The first of the two Carling Cup semi-finals kicks off with an all Championship tie when Crystal Palace entertain Cardiff City at Selhurst Park and then tomorrow sees the current Premier League leaders Manchester City take on Liverpool in what looks to be another mouth-watering tie between two of the Premier League’s big dogs.
Ahead of the Carling Cup semi-finals Manchester City are currently the 5/6 favourites to lift the cup. It’s 15/8 for Liverpool to go on and claim their first piece of silverware since lifting the Community Shield back in August 2006 whilst Cardiff City and Crystal Palace are the two outsiders at 9/1 and 12/1 respectively.
It’s 7/4 for Manchester City and Cardiff City to both progress from their Carling Cup semi-finals and 11/4 that Manchester City and Crystal Palace both go on to reach the final. 3/1 is quoted for Liverpool and Cardiff to progress whilst a Liverpool v Crystal Palace Wembley showdown is the outsider of the four options at 4/1 (all prices listed are from Bet365).
Crystal Palace v Cardiff City
It’s not that often that you see two Championship clubs competing at the Carling Cup semi-final stage but with the potential of European football next season for the winner of this tie, you can expect some great football betting action over the two legs. It’s 11/5 for Crystal Palace to take a first leg advantage but with Cardiff currently sitting third in the Championship, the London based club will have to be at their very best to come out victorious (23/10 Draw and 6/4 Cardiff City).
From all the football betting outcomes available on the Crystal Palace v Cardiff City Carling Cup semi-final one market that could produce a return is the total goals in the match but this is reflected in the odds. It’s 8/13 (VC) for there to be under 2.5 goals in the match and with Palace only averaging 0.92 goals a match at home in the league but bosting one of the strongest defences, the 8/13 could still represent some value.
It’s also 8/13 for Cardiff to go on and be the first side from outside the Premier League to reach the final since Birmingham lost to Liverpool in 2001 (Crystal Palace 13/10 Bet365) and 13/2 (Sky Bet) that the winner of this tie goes on to lift the trophy (1/14 Premier League winner).
Manchester City v Liverpool
All eyes will be on the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday evening when the second of the Carling Cup semi-finals gets underway. City are the 20/21 favourites to win in 90minutes (Betfred and Paddy Power) and having overcome Liverpool 3-0 at the start of 2012, the Citizens will be confident that they can record back-to-back wins over the Merseyside club. If anything the price for a City win could be the value bet of the evening. The Blues have only lost one match in all competitions at home this season (Manchester United in the FA Cup) and have a home record in the league of P10, W10, D0 and L0.
Liverpool on the other hand will be looking at putting their recent defeat to City behind them. They are currently the most successful team in the history of the Carling Cup having won the competition a total of seven times and if they can progress past the Blues, Kenny Dalglish’s men will be a very short price in claiming their 8th title. It’s 16/5 for Liverpool to take a first leg advantage and 13/10 that they go on to qualify through to Wembley (8/13 City to qualify).
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