Football tips: Paddy trader’s top Carabao Cup picks for Wednesday’s action

Our trader Emmet O'Keeffe has your plays sorted for the night’s Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

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* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

19:45 Brentford v Chelsea: Double Chance – Brentford And Draw & Ivan Toney To Score First

There are a few factors heading into this game that favour Brentford. Firstly, it has to be just the sheer volume of players that Chelsea are missing and whether Thomas Tuchel wants to risk any of them here? That is the key question.

With the Christmas fixtures on the horizon, I believe Tuchel will want to avoid putting his first team in harm’s way as the League Cup is surely well down the priority list at Stamford Bridge. Brentford have had a 12-day break coming into this fixture too, so they will probably select as strong a team as they can. Most importantly for The Bees their star striker Ivan Toney is back following a Covid-related absence.

So, with all that being said, the Double Chance: Brentford And Draw bet makes a lot of appeal. You just can’t be confident that Chelsea will play their best XI and even if they do, it’s questionable as to how good that first team would actually be. So that all means, Brentford have a very solid chance of making the semi-finals for the second year in a row.

With Bryan Mbeumo likely to be missing for Brentford, Toney becomes the home side’s biggest goal threat once again and don’t be surprised if he grabs the first goal as well.

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BrendanRodgersLeicesterCityAug21

19:45 Liverpool v Leicester: Leicester To Qualify & Patson Daka To Score Anytime

Given that the League Cup will (again) be well down the pecking order of ambitions at Anfield, I do feel Liverpool’s price to win this game is a bit short at present. Both sides are missing about 10 or more players between them and Leicester could be forced to play a very makeshift centre back pairing because of their missing men.

Liverpool could well exploit that, but Leicester have also had the benefit of 10 days without a game and their attack will still feature the likes of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Harvey Barnes and Patson Daka. That’s a pretty strong attacking unit for any team and I suspect it could be far superior to anything The Reds will select on Wednesday night.

Given that, and Jurgen Klopp’s probable want to prioritise Christmas fixtures, I can see Leicester’s odds tumbling in towards kick-off and the bet on them to qualify from this tie just jumps out. This game matters far more to The Foxes and given their league struggles of late, this is a chance to salvage their season by winning another domestic cup.

I’d lean towards Leicester in the hunt for a goalscorer too. There looks to be a bit more certainty around what kind of line-up we will see from them, so have a nibble at Patson Daka to hit the net at anytime.

Antonio Conte

19:45 Tottenham v West Ham: Tottenham To Win & Dele Alli To Score Anytime

Watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football

Sunday’s game against Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had a striking similarity to the Mauricio Pochettino era at Spurs. It really was as good a performance as any team have put up against Liverpool all season. As has been widely noted by pundits and people on social media, we saw a real step forward from Dele Alli that day too.

This is a player who scored 18 league goals at just 20 years of age and was widely regarded as one of the best prospects in Europe. His career has totally plateaued over the course of the last few seasons, though. But, I believe playing in a more forward role – like he did on Sunday – will suit him better. So, Dele Alli is the man I’m picking to score at anytime in this contest. If we see a similar Alli to what we witnessed against Liverpool, he could well get into double figures in terms of goals yet this term.

This will be a close game with West Ham, but I’d suspect that Spurs will sneak out a victory in this game. They should name a stronger XI than The Hammers, and that should be enough to tip it in the favour of Antonio Conte’s men.

Carabao Cup tips:

19:45 Brentford v Chelsea
Double Chance – Brentford And Draw
Ivan Toney To Score First

19:45 Liverpool v Leicester
Leicester To Qualify
Patson Daka To Score Anytime

19:45 Tottenham v West Ham
Tottenham To Win
Dele Alli To Score Anytime

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