Most of the betting on domestic competitions in England will focus on the Premiership which obviously takes most of the interest as it is seen weekly but the outright odds on the Premiership don’t offer too much value and it could be more profitable to play in the Carling Cup and FA Cup outrights instead.
Teams that don’t appeal as good bets in either of the domestic cups this season who are also relatively short in the betting include Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham. Arsenal don’t make much appeal as they have not won a trophy for six years and it looks as though they could be weaker rather than stronger next season if Cesc Fabregas finally leaves. Man City don’t appeal for different reasons, there is going to be plenty of pressure on Mancini to do well in the Champions League this season and we saw what an affect the Champions League had on Spurs’ domestic priorities last year. As for Spurs this year and Liverpool, both will be desperate to get back into the top four and the Champions League and if it comes to it they will always choose the Premiership over a long cup campaign.
That leaves Man Utd and Chelsea as the main players in the domestic cups, some of the other decent Premiership sides such as Everton and Aston Villa could have decent cup runs but they will always need a charmed passage to the final to do well. It is always safer backing the ‘right’ big club in the domestic cups as they are capable of beating both the smaller clubs in the early rounds and the bigger clubs when it gets really serious.
The cup that Man Utd really appeal for is the Carling Cup, for which they are the 13/2 joint favourites currently. Man Utd have won the Carling Cup three times in six years and it looks pretty clear that Sir Alex Ferguson realises what an easy competition this is to win, plus it is over by the time the Champions League and Premiership get really serious. The Carling Cup actually looks as though it is above the FA Cup in Fergie’s pecking order and Chelsea make little appeal for this competition after making no serious attempts at it in three years.
Whilst Man Utd look great value for the Carling Cup, it is Chelsea who are the team to back in the FA Cup. Chelsea have won the Carling Cup three times in the last five years which is some achievement and their difficult to beat style really helps them in the FA Cup. A new manager and new ideas could be a concern for some backers but he will need to win at least one trophy in his first season to get fans on side foreign managers have a huge respect for the FA Cup so Andre Villas-Boas is likely to take it very seriously, seriously enough to make Chelsea a strong bet at 6/1. They are the joint favourites with Man Utd but Man Utd haven’t won the FA Cup since 2004 so Chelsea are easily preferred.
Click the highlighted link for the latest odds on the Carling or FA Cups at OLBG.com’s football pages.
The domestic cups in England may have lost a little of their prestige in recent years with the Champions League becoming the cup that all the top teams wants to win but there is still great interest in both the FA Cup and to a lesser extent the Carling Cup and still great bets to be had in both.
The FA Cup has perhaps been one of the easier competitions to predict the winner of in recent years as top four sides have dominated it, yet you still get very generous odds whoever you back. In the past 17 seasons only Everton and Portsmouth have won the FA Cup and finished outside of the top four and the only problem that presents this coming season is we have an open race for the top four.
Man Utd, Chelsea and probably Man City are more or less guaranteed to be the top three with Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs competing for fourth spot. Arsenal could lose their best player this summer and haven’t won a trophy for six years so they are passed over whilst Liverpool will most likely be too focussed on getting back into the top four to concentrate fully on the FA Cup, although the plus for their chances is they have no European football. Spurs have the distraction of Europa League and will also be concentrating on getting back into the top four so they too are ruled out.
So although Liverpool have a slight chance it should pay to focus on Man Utd, Chelsea and Man City. Man Utd are the most successful FA Cup side ever but they seem to have changed their focus in recent years, probably because they have been involved in the Champions League final in three of the last four years and with no win since 2004 we can see where their priorities lie. Man City won it last season but they have the Champions League to worry about this season and are unlikely to do well in both competitions so this could be a relatively comfortable run for Chelsea in the competition, at 6/1 with several bookies they are a good bet to lift the FA Cup for the fourth time in six years.
The Carling Cup is down the pecking order for many clubs but is still more commonly than not won by a top four team. You can nearly always rule Arsenal out as they tend to put out a very inexperienced team, whilst Man City, Spurs and Liverpool may again have priorities elsewhere this coming season. This could come down to Chelsea and Man Utd again, new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is unlikely to know much about the competition and could easily see it as a chance to check out his fringe players and that would make Man Utd an outstanding bet at around 13/2. United have won it three time in six years and Sir Alex Ferguson seems to realise that it is a very soft trophy to win whilst other managers ignore it.
For the latest odds on the teams in contention for all the domestic cups, visit OLBG.com’s football pages using the filters to select the league.
Manchester United – Chelsea 12 April 2011
*matches in all competitions
Manchester last 5 matches: 
Manchester last 3 away matches:
Chelsea last 5 matches: 
Chelsea last 3 away matches:
Second leg in the Champions League quarter-finals and Manchester United start off as favorites against Chelsea after the previous victory and the home pitch advantage.
Manchester United managed a narrow victory on Chelsea’s pitch 2 weeks ago but more importantly they managed a crucial away goal making their mission in this one considerably easier.
They are on a very good run with no less than 6 consecutive victories in all competition and a decent advantage at the top of the Premier League.
Chelsea on the other hand has showed great fluctuation in results lately, losing valuable points in the domestic league to end up on the third spot with an 11 point gap from their adversaries.
Only a draw in their last away match for Chelsea against the modest Stoke City and a record full of draws this season.
My pick: Manchester United to win ( under 2.5 goals )
What's your pick?
- Manchester United (55%, 11 Votes)
- Chelsea (30%, 6 Votes)
- Draw (15%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 20
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