Carabao Cup best bets: Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham in action
Tottenham face a daunting task of three matches in five days and face a London derby against West Ham just 48 hours after a morale-sapping 1-0 defeat against Manchester City.
With a tricky away match against Wolves on Saturday and the dreadful pitch at Wembley taking its toll on already tired legs, it will be no surprise if Mauricio Pochettino takes the opportunity to rest some of his star men.
Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen came on as substitutes against Manchester City as they returned from spells on the sideline and may start tonight, but it might take them a couple of matches to play their way into form.
These two sides met just a fortnight ago with Tottenham arguably fortunate to come away with a 1-0 win largely inspired by a great performance by Hugo Lloris, who is likely to be one of those rested for this game.
West Ham are in better form than their recent results suggest and in all likelihood would have won at Leicester if midfielder Mark Noble had not been sent off. West Ham’s captain will miss this game through suspension but his team look value to pull of an upset at around 7/4.
Elsewhere in the Carabao Cup, Frank Lampard makes a return to Stamford Bridge with Derby County. Lampard’s team knocked out Manchester United at Old Trafford in the previous round and are priced at 12/1 to pull off another shock.
That looks unlikely, though, given Chelsea’s weakened team is still packed full of stars. Maurizio Sarri is likely to start Victor Moses and Gary Cahill in defence, with Reuben Loftus-Cheek and Cesc Fabregas in midfield, while Olivier Giroud will get the nod up front.
Chelsea supporters will love having the chance to run the rule over Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, who have been loaned to Derby but given permission to play against their parent club in this tie.
Lampard has some promising attacking players at his disposal and his team may find the net, so a Chelsea win and both teams to score appeals at 15/8.
Crystal Palace look a good bet at 6/5 to knock out Middlesbrough. Roy Hodgson's side were arguably a little unlucky to come away with just a draw against Arsenal and are decent on their travels, while Tony Pulis will prioritise a promotion push in the Championship and rest some of his key men.
It’s difficult to find a bet as Arsenal host Blackpool but I was tempted by some goalscorer markets on young players. Emile Smith-Rowe is 6/1 to score the first goal of the game and 5/4 to score at any time, while Eddie Nketiah is 4/1 to hit the net first and 4-5 to score during the game. They could be a touch of value.
