I am quite pleased with my first lot of betting advice for the Carling Cup gambler. Both Brentford and Gillingham beat Championship sides at home, two results that will have sounded alarm bells at their respective opponents, Bristol City and Plymouth.
However, Exeter were crushed 5-0 at home to QPR, which I didn’t see coming, and the ‘tempting’ double-chance bet of Exeter Or Draw now is a distant memory!
Finally, Leeds managed to beat Darlington at the Northern Echo Arena but only by a goal to nil, scored by Enoch Showunmi - not Jermaine Beckford, as I originally predicted. Beckford did not even manage to get into the starting line-up, citing an injury as the excuse for his omission.
There are three more Carling Cup first round matches tonight, all involving Championship sides against lower opposition, however I would be surprised to see any cupsets. For this reason, you will get poor odds on 1X2 betting, so a look at the more in-depth markets might be a good idea.
13/8 on Leicester to ‘Win To Nil’ is quite a tempting bet here. Macclesfield don’t really have a prolific striker in their ranks and could struggle to put one past The Foxes tonight. 13/10 on the match being level at half-time is also a decent bet, as Leicester may be wary of their underdog opponents and may take a while to find their feet in the match. If you are going to go for the above two bets, there are a number of other markets you can put your money on which will cover similar outcomes.
Nottm Forest play host to Yorkshire side Bradford City, who suffered a 5-0 thrashing in the same city on Saturday, at the hands of Forest’s rivals Notts County. A Forest win tonight is more than likely, and odds of 1/2 on this outcome are actually quite generous considering the circumstances. However, you’d have to wager a fairly big stake in order to make a decent return, so it is not worth the risk. Going for the goals market on this fixture will reap better rewards, especially if you think Forest could put a few past City without reply. You can get 9/1 and 22/1 on 3-0 and 4-0 respectively, though with Rob Earnshaw on international duty with Wales, their strikepower may be damaged.
The other fixture tonight sees Coventry City at home to Hartlepool United, hardly a gambler’s paradise. This is the only game that might see a result upset, though I still think Coventry have enough to see off their North-East opponents. If you are going to bet on this game, you would be wise to take the 8/11 odds on Coventry to win, or 7/5 on Clinton Morrison scoring at any time during the match.
I hope my betting tips for tonight suit you well, though I will re-iterate the point - anything can happen in the cup!