The quarter final stage of the Carabao Cup concludes on Wednesday night with an intriguing clash between two teams going well in their respective divisions as Bristol City host Manchester United at Ashton Gate. Bristol City come into this game on a fine run of form which has seen them win four games on the spin and eight of their last ten, whilst Manchester United have recovered from their derby defeat to Manchester City with back to back wins in the Premier League.
EFL Cup, Ashton Gate, Bristol, England, 8:00PM, Wednesday, December 20th, 2017,
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Draw Best Odd of: 19/5 at Betway |
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Bristol City
Manchester UnitedBristol City
Bristol City come into this game full of confidence after their 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest made it four wins on the spin for Lee Johnson’s side. This Bristol City side have all the tools to cause Manchester United plenty of problems and 6ft6 centre-half Aden Flint has already chipped in with six goals this season and will be a real threat from set pieces. Bristol City have no fresh injury concerns heading into the game and Johnson is expected to name his strongest possible line up for the match.
Manchester United
Manchester United picked up a narrow 2-1 win against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday and Jose Mourinho will have been concerned that his side looked well short of their best for the third successive game. Romelu Lukaku made it two goals in two games, but there were few bright spots other than that. Paul Pogba will return from suspension against Bristol City on Wednesday, but Antonio Valencia, Marouane Fellaini, Eric Bailly and Michael Carrick will all miss out through injury.
Talking Points
1. Bristol City have scored at least one goal in their last 10 matches.
2. Manchester United are the current holders of the EFL Cup after beating Southampton in the final last season.
3. Lee Johnson’s side are just two points behind their highest ever pre-Christmas points tally in any division, with three points still to play for.
Prediction: Bristol City vs Manchester United
Mourinho will likely make plenty of changes for this game and it will be interesting to see how a makeshift Manchester United side will get on against a well drilled, in form Bristol City team. If Paul Pogba plays for United then you would expect them to have too much quality for this Bristol City team, but I think we could be in for a tight game at Ashton Gate on Wednesday.
Our Top Betting Tips: Bristol City vs Manchester United (Ladbrokes)
Manchester United start this game as big favourites at odds of 2/9, whilst a home win for Bristol City is priced up at 13/2, with the draw available at 4/1. I think those odds on United are too short considering the form Bristol City have been in of late. I’m tempted by a HT/FT bet of Draw/Manchester United, because I think the first half could well be a tight affair with both teams not wanting to give anything away. An outside bet could be Manchester United to win on penalties at 20/1; we saw Championship leaders, Wolves, take Manchester City to penalties in the last round and Bristol City are another high flying Championship side with all the tools to cause any side problems on their day.
HT/FT – Draw/Manchester United – 3/1 (Ladbrokes)