Do you Carabao the League Cup? Four weeks I’m doing this and it’s taken me that long to come up with that. Well, I certainly do, and let me tell you – we’re entering the business end of the competition now and things are starting to heat up.
As for Thursday night’s clashes? Forget Arsenal and Liverpool – we’ve already seen that once this week and nobody needs to see a sloppy Liverpool now do they?
We turn our focus instead to two clubs who share a small part of west London in the shadow of Chelsea in last season’s Championship play-off finalists Fulham and Brentford.
We’ve also got Aston Villa and Stoke; two clubs who probably struggle to deal with their reputations.
Villa, clearly not the big club they perceive themselves to be, badly need a trophy while Stoke, a cemented Premier League outfit for what seemed an eternity, now have to rebuild in a different guise if they’re to achieve long-term success.
Who doesn’t love an identity crisis on a Thursday? Here’s a tasty double.
17:30: Brentford v Fulham: Brentford to Win and Both Teams to Score
Even with their respective divisions, you’d feel Brentford are a better side than Fulham and the prices show that.
Fulham have commanded column inches this week comparing them to that infamous Derby County that had no business in the top tier after promotion.
Meanwhile, Brentford are flying about the Championship and have shown that their brand of football is conducive to competing with top-flight sides, when all Fulham have done is shown the exact opposite.
En route to this game, Brentford have dumped out Southampton and West Brom – two teams who are of similar ilk and have come through unscathed.
I think Brentford will Win with Both Teams Scoring, and that result may even start to suggest that the Fulham board look at Scott Parker’s position.
19:00: Aston Villa v Stoke – Bertrand Traore to Score Anytime
Well, Bertrand Traore got some minutes into him against Fulham, and I suspect the plan will be to do the same here – whether that’s from the start or as a sub again.
He’s the class player, not only in this game if he plays, but at the club in general. The swoop was somewhat of a surprise and a bit of a statement of intent from the side who are trying to claw back a bit of legacy prestige that has since departed them.
The writing looks to be on the wall for the Potters here, and we’re backing Traore to Score Anytime.
Hands up who saw this start to the season coming from Villa by the way? Put your hands down, you liars.
Our double for Thursday’s Carabao Cup clashes
17:30 Brentford v Fulham: Brentford to Win and Both Teams to Score
19:00 Aston Villa v Stoke: Bertrand Traore to Score Anytime
- Odds are subject to change but are always up to date on our betting widgets
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