Mark O’Haire’s Capital One Cup Tips – Tuesday

The Capital One Cup returns tonight and Sheffield Wednesday take on Arsenal in a repeat of the 1993 League Cup final.

Sheffield Wednesday v Arsenal, Tuesday 27 October 19.45, Sky Sports 1
The Gunners ran out winners on that occasion and have been chalked up as short 4/11 favourites to repeat the feat on Tuesday night in front of the television cameras with a place in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals at stake.

Arsene Wenger’s side have only twice been eliminated by a non-top tier team in this competition across the previous 25 seasons and head into this fixture on the back of their best run of results in six months. The Londoners followed up convincing wins ‘to nil’ over Manchester United and Watford by beating Bayern Munich and Everton in the past week.

That four-match winning steak has enhanced Arsenal’s domestic return to 9 wins from 12 and that includes an excellent 6 victories from 7 when playing away from the Emirates in 2015/16. The Gunners have notched at least two goals in each of their last seven games and whilst Wenger is likely to make wholesale changes, the visitors are still likely to justify their miniscule odds.

Arsenal made 10 changes for the trip to bitter rivals Tottenham in the third round of the Capital One Cup but were still able to pick an XI packed with quality and experience and so the notion of a team full of kids is quite far fetched. And with Wednesday also set to rotate their team, the chances of an away success increase.

Sure, the Owls made 10 changes themselves when beating Newcastle on the road in their previous League Cup encounter but the Yorkshire hosts haven’t reached this stage of the competition since 2001/02 and will be looking to focus on their impressive eight-match unbeaten run that’s led the side to ninth in the Championship.

Wednesday are enjoying their best start to a season in the second tier for 25 years.

They boast an impressive W5-D2-L1 record at Hillsborough, so it may pay to add the Both Teams To Score angle to an Arsenal win at chunky 15/8 odds on Tuesday night. The Gunners have kept a solitary shutout on their past 11 Capital One Cup away days and have leaked at least two goals in three of their previous five on the road.

The Owls have struck in 14 of their 16 games this season as well in their previous 15 on home soil, dating back to February. The BTTS bet has banked in six of Sheffield Wednesday’s last seven matches on home turf too and Carvahal’s charges have failed to keep a clean sheet in 10 of the most recent 12 against clubs from the top two divisions.

Arsenal are understandably short in the betting but backing the Gunners to come out on top in 90 minutes with both teams scoring seems a sensible play at an attractive price.

Recommended Bet:
Arsenal to win and Both Teams To Score @ 15/8

Stoke v Chelsea, Tuesday 27 October, 19.45
It feels like Jose Mourinho’s second coming at Chelsea is close to its finale. Saturday’s embarrassing scenes when going down 2-1 at West Ham saw the Blues drop to 15th in the Premier League table and represented Mou’s worst start to a campaign his managerial career.

It’s only 178 days since Chelsea were crowned champions but 5 defeats in 10 league games, no away wins in 4 and with only Bournemouth, Norwich and Newcastle conceding more goals than the capital club’s 19 this term, there are serious problems that require addressing.

Rumour has it a poor result on Tuesday night at Stoke coupled with a below-par performance against Liverpool this weekend will see Mourinho booted out at Stamford Bridge and it’s difficult to find the confidence to back the Blues in their midweek trip to the Britannia Stadium.

Ryan Shawcross returns for the Potters whose four-match winning streak was ended on Saturday at home to Watford.

Mark Hughes admitted it was Stoke’s worst display of the season but the hosts will be itching to set the record straight and pile more misery on the London visitors.

The Potters had leaked just once in their previous four outings before the Hornets arrived and will certainly fancy their chances in out-scoring a Chelsea team that’s conceded two or more goals in each of their five matches away. Backing the hosts to win in 90 minutes at 11/4 just looks too good to pass up.

Recommended Bet:
Stoke to win @ 11/4

*Prices correct at time of publication