When you look at the pecking order of the domestic competitions currently held in England, the EFL Cup falls a little down the pecking order, with many of the bigger teams using this competition as an opportunity to rotate their squad and give bench guys a start. Things get a little different in the latter stages, as the EFL Cup odds suggests, though, as all the teams involved begin to see it as an opportunity to get their hands on some silverware.
When you get a pair of Premier League sides drawn against one another, the temptation to rest players becomes lessened, as the goal is still to win and move on to the next round. It is certainly going to be interesting to see what sort of team Manchester City will field on Tuesday night for their EFL Cup tie on the road to a much-improved Leicester City side.
Even if the league leaders do decide to go with some bench guys, they are still going to have a very strong team on the field. Can the EFL Cup Lines favorite Manchester City keep their win streak alive, or can Leicester spring the upset at home?
City extended their winning streak in the Premier League to 16 games with a stunning 4-1 win over Tottenham on the weekend, and while the team sheet for Tuesday night is certainly going to look different from the one that was up on Saturday, I still expect Guardiola to field a strong side. Manchester City has been scoring at will all year long and came up with a 2-0 win in their last visit to the King Power Stadium in Leicester.
EFL Cup Odds & Expert Pick: Leicester City vs. Manchester City
- When: Tuesday, December 19, 2:45 PM EST
- Where: King Power Stadium, Leicester
- TV: FS1
- EFL Cup Odds: Manchester City -1.5 (Total at 3 goals)
Recent Head to Head (Last 4 Games)
- Leicester City 0 – Manchester City 2
- Manchester City 2 – Leicester City 1
- Leicester City 4 – Manchester City 2
- Manchester City 1 – Leicester City 3
Why consider Leicester City EFL Cup Odds?
After a pretty brutal start to the season, not to mention a managerial change, Leicester is finally hitting a decent run of form. They are sitting mid-table right now, but perhaps, more importantly, are playing some very nice football for new manager Claude Puel. Leicester’s good run of form took a bit of a hit on the weekend when they went down 3-0 to Crystal Palace. They will be looking to bounce back from that one and get back to the form that saw them get past Sheffield United, Liverpool, and Leeds in the earlier rounds of the competition. They will be looking for more from Jamie Vardy, on Tuesday night, as the England striker has been struggling to find his form and the back of the net in recent weeks. Leicester City has won his competition on 3 separate occasions, but you need to go all the way back to 2000 to find their last win in the final.Probable Line-Up
- 1-Kasper Schmeichel
- 2-Danny Simpson
- 5-Wes Morgan
- 15-Harry Maguire
- 3-Ben Chilwell
- 10-Andy King
- 11-Marc Albrighton
- 29-Riyad Mahrez
- 25-Wilfred Ndidi
- 9-Jamie Vardy
- 8-Kelechi Iheanacho
Why consider Manchester City EFL Cup Odds?
It is beginning to look as though Manchester City are going to be impossible to catch in the Premier League race, and given that they are still in all the major competitions they are taking part in, manager Pep Guardiola is going to need to prioritize those competitions according to the level of importance. While the EFL Cup may not run near the top, make no mistake, this is a team that wants to win it all.
City extended their winning streak in the Premier League to 16 games with a stunning 4-1 win over Tottenham on the weekend, and while the team sheet for Tuesday night is certainly going to look different from the one that was up on Saturday, I still expect Guardiola to field a strong side. Manchester City has been scoring at will all year long and came up with a 2-0 win in their last visit to the King Power Stadium in Leicester.
Probable Line-Up
- 1-Claudio Bravo
- 15-Eliaquim Mangala
- 3-Danilo
- 24-Oluwatosin Adarabioyo
- 42-Yaya Touré
- 8-İlkay Gündoğan
- 7-Raheem Sterling
- 35-Olek Zinchenko
- 20-Bernardo Silva
- 10-Sergio Agüero
- 33-Gabriel Jesus
