Tuesday evening football comes courtesy of the EFL Cup semi-final where Arsenal host Newcastle in what promises to be the first of two great midweek semi’s. The Gunners come into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw away at Brighton whilst Eddie Howe’s men beat Spurs 2-1 so will be looking to make lightning strike twice in North London within four days.
Still chasing a first League Cup honour since 1993, the Gunners are yet to lose a home game in any cup competition this season and have progressed to the final from two of their last three EFL Cup semi’s with their loss coming in their most recent two legged battle with Liverpool in 2021-2022.
While Arsenal’s haul of success in the League Cup isn’t very flattering at all Newcastle are yet to conquer the competition and are on their way of going 70 years without a major trophy. Since the Magpies’ big money takeover they fell short in the 2022-2023 final of this cup to Manchester United but this time they will be looking to mark this new era with a piece of silverware.
Eddie Howe’s team have had to battle past three top flight teams to get to this point beating Forest, Brentford and Chelsea in addition to AFC Wimbledon and the Tyneside club will be making a swift return to North London with a spring in their step. They beat Arsenal 1-0 in their first league game of the season at St James Park but they haven’t won away at Arsenal since 2010.
Arsenal hope to see the return of Kai Havertz who’s missed the last couple of games through illness, while Jurrien Timber is available after suspension. Bukayo Saka remains a long term injury woe.
Newcastle are going to be without the suspended Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar but hope to have Sven Botman available after he made his return to action at the weekend. The value bet in this match has got to be Arsenal to win and both teams to score, which is top price 9/4 at no verification betting sites.
Current betting:
Casinos Non UK Based: Arsenal 3/4, Newcastle 100/30 and the Draw 3/1.
Independent Gambling Sites: Arsenal 7/10, Newcastle 7/2 and the Draw 29/10.
Second semi-final contest comes from the Tottenham Hotspur stadium where they host league leaders Liverpool who will look to extend their unbeaten run when they visit Tottenham on Wednesday evening. The Merseyside club have won their last four away games in all competitions which includes scoring six past Spurs in a 6-3 victory.
The home side are looking to gain their first piece of silverware since 2008 when they won the League Cup. Ange Postecoglou’s side are in dreadful form and now face the most in-form club in the country, they are winless in their last four games and it has left them stranded in the bottom half of the Premier League. The last victory for the North London club came in this competition where they beat Man United 4-3 in a thrilling cup match.
Liverpool remain fighting in all four fronts and are six points clear at the top of the league with a game in hand. With only one loss in all competitions this season and unbeaten since mid September .
We expect goals to be a feature in this game with Liverpool being free flowing going forward and Spurs unable to keep a clean sheet. The value bet has to be Liverpool to win and both teams to score which you can find at a top price of 11/8 at gambling sites that take credit cards. Spurs have no new injury blows to deal with albeit a few still long term while Liverpool should only have the one absentee in Joe Gomez.
Current Betting for this contest:
European Gambling Sites: Tottenham 100/30, Liverpool 8/13 and the Draw 18/5.
American Gambling Sites: Tottenham 7/2, Liverpool 4/7 and the Draw 18/5.
Good luck with your selections in these thrilling cup matches. Please remember to gamble responsibly.
