CARLING CUP ACTION

All eyes will be on Argentine forward Carlos Tevez as Manchester City host rivals Manchester United in tonight's Carling Cup semi-final first leg. Blue Square have a number of special bets focused on City’s in-form striker. He is 11/8 to score at anytime in this match and 100/30 to score in any City victory – which has been the outcome in 50% of City’s last ten games.

Tevez is 8/1 to score a goal from outside the box and 10/1 to hit the woodwork. They also have a special ‘Goalscorer Matchbet’ which pits him against former teammate Wayne Rooney. Both players are 3/1 in this particular contest with a tie at 8/13.

Tevez has eleven goals from his last ten appearances in all competitions for his new club, whilst former club United have certainly looked to have been missing his cutting edge on occasions this season. It’s City’s first game in the competition since Roberto Mancini took over and Mark Hughes’ parting gift was a win over Arsenal and a much-reported spat with Arsene Wenger.

It remains to be seen if United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will continue to use a mixture of his squad to fulfil fixtures in this competition. Considering that two games against their local rivals are on the agenda then he’d be forgiven for taking it a touch more seriously. Rooney may well make his seasonal debut in the competition, taking over from the likes of Michael Owen and Federico Macheda. Dimitar Berbatov broke the deadlock on Saturday when Burnley held United to a goalless hour in the league, before eventually succumbing to a 3-0 defeat. The third scorer Mame Diouf replaced Berbatov from the bench and could be used again. Diouf is 8/1 to net first on what would be his third appearance for the club.

Observers at Old Trafford on Saturday suggested that the scoreline flattered United, but in terms of recent form, City’s defeat at Everton gave more cause for concern. Robinho was a subbed-sub on Saturday evening and if Mancini has any remaining faith in the Brazilian maybe a Carling Cup appearance could be a sufficient wake-up call. Robinho is also 8/1 to score first.

City have sufficiently played down seasonal expectations after Mark Hughes’ dismissal with some remarking that Hughes was still on course to deliver what was laid out before his Italian replacement.

We now get to see how Mancini copes with a defeat and City are 6/4 favourites for this first leg. United are one of the biggest prices they have been for an away game at City in decades, as 7/4 outsiders! We'd expect the prices to fluctuate as soon as the teams are announced and intentions are made clear by the opposing managers.

With that in mind Boylesport take a big chance offering 19/10 about the Reds. there's no way Fergusson will risk losing this tie to his City rivals - the infamous Tevez adverts across the City earlier in the season have seen to that!

Published 18-01-2010

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