League Cup Odds to Watch Without Man City

Chelsea come into this season as the champions of Europa following their victory against Manchester City in the Champions League final. Thomas Tuchel’s side have looked unstoppable so far in the Premier League due to their solid defensive displays, as well as their cohesive attacking performances in the Premier League which has seen them as the early season favourites to win the league title for the first time since 2017.

The Stamford Bridge club have a wealth of depth across the pitch which was further enhanced by the acquisitions of Romelu Lukaku and Saul Niguez in the summer, off the back of both of them helping Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid to league titles.

Tuchel’s men last won the League Cup under Jose Mourinho in the 2014/15 season when they comfortably dispatched of Tottenham Hotspur in the final thanks to goals from John Terry and Diego Costa and will be expected to challenge on all fronts in the upcoming season, having even shown that they are good in cup competitions, having narrowly finished as FA Cup runners-up to Leicester City last season.

Chelsea even have a good record of late against current holders City, as they beat them three times under Tuchel last season, 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium via a stoppage-time Marcos Alonso goal, as well as 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final where Hakim Ziyech scored the only goal of the game. The other victory was in the Champions League final as mentioned above, as Kai Havertz’s goal in the 42nd minute was enough to win the Blues European club football’s most prestigious prize.

Chelsea are priced at 11/2 to win the League Cup for the first time since the 2014/15 season - click on the link to claim this bet in your bet slip!

Manchester United are next on this list of clubs to win the Carabao Cup at 8/1.

The Old Trafford club were the last club to win the competition before Manchester City’s recent dominance in the competition when they defeated Southampton in the final 3-2 under Jose Mourinho thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace and Jesse Lingard goal in what was a dramatic final.

United have a good record against City of late, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side haven’t lost to the Citizens in the league in either of the last two seasons, managing three wins and a draw, but, they did lose 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals of this competition to City in 2020, as well 2-0 at the same stage to their local rivals last season.
Solskjaer’s side are yet to win a trophy under his management, although with the signings of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo, this has enhanced the Red Devils squad depth, as well as the overall quality of their squad, as the latter has scored four goals in his opening three appearances.

In each of Solskjaer’s seasons as manager of the club, they have made progress in cup competitions, having reached four semi-finals and one final in his first two seasons as permanent manager, meaning that it is surely only a matter of time before the Red Devils do break their four-year trophy drought.

United are priced at 8/1 to win the League Cup for the first time since the 2016/17 season.

Leicester City will be looking to compete for every piece of silverware that they can if their poor start to the Premier League continues this season.

The Foxes showed last season that they have the capability to compete to win major competitions, as they won the FA Cup final last May against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium via a wonder strike from Youri Tielemans, having defeated Man United in the quarter-finals at the King Power Stadium thanks to a goal from Tielemans, as well as a Kelechi Iheanacho brace.

Rodgers has also shown that he has the credentials in cup competitions in his time at Celtic, as he managed to win back-to-back trebles in his time at the Parkhead club in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons.

Everton will be determined to compete well in the cups as the Toffees haven’t won a trophy since they beat Manchester United 1-0 in the 1995 FA Cup final at the old Wembley Stadium.

Rafael Benitez will know that he will have the chance to write his name into Toffees folklore by becoming the first manager in over 26 years to win a trophy at the club, and the former Liverpool manager will know that cup competitions are his side’s most likely chance of breaking their duck.

The 61-year-old has a superb record in cup competitions, having won the UEFA Cup with Valencia back in 2003/04, as well as the Champions League in 2004/05 and FA Cup in 2006. The Spaniard also managed to win the SuperCoppa Italiana in both 2010 and 2014 with Inter Milan and Napoli and has a FIFA Club World Cup win in 2010 as well as the Coppa Italia in the 2013/14. The last trophy that Benitez won with an English side was the Europa League with Chelsea in 2012/13.