EFL Cup First Round Tips
The EFL Cup gets underway on Tuesday with a plethora of first-round ties and teams dreaming of a Wembley final. The first round typically sees a number of shocks and you can get a grasp of a teams intention for the competition by the team they play in this round. Find our tips for the event below.
Tip 1 - Cambridge to beat QPR @ 7/2
QPR won the EFL Cup in 1967 and reached the final in 1986 but since then it has been an awfully barren spell for Rangers.
The west Londoners have lost in the League Cup first round in three of the last four seasons, with the Hoops falling to Plymouth, Charlton and Norwich in their opening cup contests in those years.
Clearly, those sides are stronger than Tuesday night’s opponents Cambridge, but Rangers have also been beaten by Blackpool, Carlisle, Burton, Swindon, Rochdale and Port Vale in this competition in previous campaigns and it hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Hoops.
Martí Cifuentes’ men were pretty poor in a 3-1 Loftus Road defeat to West Brom in the Championship at the weekend and Cambridge can have hopes of upsetting what is likely to be a much-changed QPR side.
Tip 2 - Watford to win + over 2.5 goals @ 5/4
MK Dons started the season as League Two title favourites, while Watford were well backed in the Championship relegation market.
However, the flow of money may not indicate what is likely to happen at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night. The Hornets look capable of surprising in the Championship this season and the Hertfordshire side got the season off to a winning start with an excellent 3-2 victory at Millwall.
Tom Cleverley is a rookie gaffer, but the former Man Utd midfielder has lost just two of the ten matches since he took charge of the Hornets and Watford may just be a progressive side.
There is experience and quality in the squad, with Moussa Sissoko, Vakoun Bayo and Edo Kayembe, while Mattie Pollock and Ryan Andrews are promising young performers.
MK Dons lost 2-1 at home to Bradford on the opening day of the League Two season and Mike Williamson, who was once a Watford player, may not have a happy return to his former club.
Tip 3 - Over 3.5 goals in Sheffield United v Wrexham @ 23/20
There were 141 goals in Wrexham’s 46 League Two matches last season and the Red Dragons don’t appear to have altered their attacking approach in League One.
Phil Parkinson’s men beat Wycombe 3-2 at the Racecourse Ground at the weekend and that was a contest which featured 32 efforts on goal and 12 corners.
Sheffield United dropped down to the Championship from the Premier League and the Blades got their second-tier campaign off to a winning start when beating Preston 2-0 at Deepdale.
Wrexham step up in class at Bramall Lane and there is no doubt Chris Wilder’s men have the quality to punish the Red Dragons. However, it’s a near impossible task to stop Wrexham finding the net and backing over 3.5 goals looks a play in this League Cup first-round tie.