Capital One Cup 4th Round Preview

It’s Capital One Cup time, AKA Coca Cola Cup, AKA Carling Cup, and there’s a few interesting ties to look at. The stand-out game of the Tuesday fixtures sees the troubled Arsenal travel to Reading in a game that means slightly more than just progressing to the next stages of this menial competition. Arsenal are in the middle of a poor run that started with their disappointing performance at home to Chelsea at the Emirates, a game where they just failed to turn up. Arsenal’s infamous annual meltdown may have arrived a bit early this season, but that remains to be seen. If they are sent crashing out of this competition tonight then they have lost the chance to win any silverware this season I fear.

Regardless of what side they choose to field against the Royals (yes, I did have to Google that) it is a game which they should/must win. They dominated the game against QPR at the weekend, however when they took a late lead after a scrappy goal from Mikel Arteta, they shit their pants and were barely able to hold on for the three points.

I think a win here would give them a much-needed confidence boost to take them into what is going to be a crucial game at Old Trafford this Saturday lunchtime. I’m confident that Arsenal will do it tonight, but I doubt they’ll keep a clean sheet against a tough, and probably more experienced side.

Bets for the game – I’ll be taking Andrei Arshavin any-time goal-scorer at 11/4 and both teams to score at 4/7 tonight. 

Wednesday night sees a rematch of the weekend cracker that was Chelsea v Man United at the Bridge. I can’t help thinking that although there’ll be weaker players fielded in this one, some of the bad blood that emanated from Sunday’s fixture will spill over into this one. Sir Alex won’t want to see his team knocked out of this tournament at such an early stage, and Di Matteo will see it as a stage where his younger players can hone their skills for the bigger fixtures if they are called upon.

I can’t see this game being as exciting as the one we saw on Sunday, especially since United are hosting Arsenal on Saturday afternoon. Both teams will have to find a balance of talent/caution in the teams they field, so as to protect their chances of doing the business at the weekend.

Bets for the game – On the spreads, I’m going to be selling the match performance for a few quid here, taking a chance on the fact that it’s not going to kick off like it did a couple of days ago.