Prediction and odds for the game: Manchester City (2/7) v Manchester United (8/1)
We are backing the over 3.5 goals at odds of 6/5
When: Wednesday 29th January 2020, Kick-off 7:45 PM
Where: The Etihad Stadium
On Wednesday night, Manchester City host neighbours Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg. The Citizens recorded a 3-1 win in the first leg at Old Trafford and will be confident of progression to the final.
Manchester City
The home side heads into this game on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions, consisting of seven wins and a draw. Last time out, City recorded a comfortable 4-0 win over Championship promotion chasers Fulham. The victory saw City score at least two goals for the 11th time in 12 competitive outings.
The Citizens have a good recent record in the Carabao Cup, as the holders are unbeaten in 16 games in the competition. In fact, the last team to beat City in the League Cup was Manchester United back in 2016 at Old Trafford.
Citizens boss Pep Guardiola is like to shuffle his pack again when it comes to team selection. However, the Catalan boss is unlikely to leave anything to chance and is likely to name a strong starting line-up.
Manchester United
The Red Devils ended a mini two-game losing run last time out when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team recorded a resounding 6-0 win at Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup fourth round. The win was a much needed one after back-to-back defeats against Liverpool and Burnley.
The fact that United have won just three of their last eight matches in all competitions illustrates the visitor’s inconsistency of late. While they would never welcome a defeat against their city rivals, the League Cup is definitely not the United’s priority this season.
The win over Tranmere also ended a run of low-scoring games for the Red Devils, as their previous three games had all produced under 2.5 goals. The fact that Solskjaer’s team failed to score in two of the matches was a big factor in the low-scoring matches.
To say United have been inconsistent on their travels this season would be an understatement. The visitors have won just three of their last ten away games in all competitions. Only one of those wins has been in their last four away games.
One positive for United heading into this clash is that City have won just one of the last five meetings between these two teams at the Etihad Stadium.
United are still likely to be without the likes of Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba. Highly-rated young striker Mason Greenwood will be hoping for his chance in Rashford’s absence.
Conclusion
The difference in quality between these two teams is immense. City are by far the better side, but they tend to have problems beating United at the Etihad Stadium. One thing that is usually guaranteed in City games is goals. With that in mind, we are backing the over 3.5 goals scored at odds of 6/5. We also fancy United forward Anthony Martial to be an anytime goalscorer.
Verdict: We are backing the over 3.5 goals and/or Anthony Martial to score at anytime at odds of 2/1. (All odds are taken from Bet365).
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