Carabao Cup: Manchester City vs Manchester United Preview, Odds and Prediction

Manchester City and Manchester United are clashing in the rematch of the English Football League Cup (or Carabao Cup as some say) semifinals. Although City has a 3-1 lead from the first leg, do not doubt that this contest is going to be more than exciting to watch. No matter what is the situation in United (yeah, it’s pretty bad), they aren’t going to arrive at Etihad with a white flag. PSG had that sort of approach previous season in the Champions League, and they experienced a bitter ending after the game in Paris.

Preview

Manchester City (-334) has eight matches in a row in which they haven’t lost. During that stretch, they had seven wins and a draw, with the total goal difference 24:6. Fourteen of those goals were scored at Etihad in five matches, and that tells you a lot about their approach. The efficiency of Guardiola’s squad is high as usual, and the way they play right now indicates that City’s form is starting to go up. Unlike previous seasons when Sky-Blues reached the peak of their power early on, it seems that the Spaniard targeted the finishing stages of the Champions League for that now. In the meantime, he will try to win all the trophies available, as he probably leaves City at the end of the season. EFL isn’t that valued among the fans, nor the public in general, but a piece of silverware is what counts, and that is all that matters.

United (+750) comes in this one as a heavy underdog. And how shouldn’t that be? The Red Devils didn’t win in three straight games away from home until the recent clash in the FA Cup against Tranmere. And what is even worse, they haven’t scored a single goal during that period. Two losses against Liverpool and Arsenal, 2-0 each, and a goalless draw vs. Wolves were their record. Yet, that is not all. In the meantime, United lost against Burnley at the Old Trafford, also with 2-0, so we can say without any hesitation that they have problems in attack. And that is reasonable since they lost Marcus Rashford due to an injury. To be perfectly honest, he was the only one in this crew who can create some problems for the rivals’ defenses.

Head to Head Record

The previous game ended with City’s routine 1-3 win at the Old Trafford. They’ve come out strong, motivated to get even for the loss at Etihad early in December. It was 1-2 for United back then, and Rashford was the main reason for that. In general, when looking at the entire history, United is better with 74 victories, City has 54, and 52 events concluded without winners.

Prediction

Without slightest of doubts, we are fully backing up City’s win in this one. The situation inside United’s locker room is not good at all. They have all sorts of problems, starting with injuries, as three of their starting players don’t play (Pogba, McTominay, Rashford). Also, issues with chemistry are visible. The moneyline on City’s plain win is not high at all -334, so we need to come up with something else. City to and Over 2.5 goals is something more acceptable, -138. We will, for sure, see goals in this one, as United needs to open early and chase for the deficit they have. City always attacks, and this opens the possibility for high efficiency.

Pick: City and Over 2.5 goals, -138