The quarter finals of the EFL Cup take place in midweek and on Tuesday we focus on Everton v Fulham and Chelsea v Newcastle
In addition to these 2 matches Port Vale host Middlesbrough whilst on Wednesday Liverpool are at home to West Ham, let's take in an outright betting update to lift the trophy.
Liverpool 1.75/1
Chelsea 33/10
Newcastle 7/2
Everton 8/1
West Ham 9/1
Fulham 12/1
Middlesbrough 16/1
Port Vale 250/1
Everton 11/10 Draw 2.57/1 Fulham 2.37/1
Everton's cup run started with 2-1 win away to Doncaster before they saw off Premier League opposition in the shape of Aston Villa with a 2-1 win away from home. In the Round of 16 they had too much for Burnley (3-0) at Goodison Park. In the EPL Everton are the form team and Saturday's 2-0 win at Burnley was their fourth straight win (all with a clean sheet) and their sixth in the last 8. Despite the 10 point deduction Everton now have 16 league points, 7 clear of the drop zone.
Fulham beat Spurs on spot kicks after a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage in their first EFL Cup action. They went on to beat Norwich 2-1 in another home fixture before a 3-1 win away to Championship promotion contenders Ipswich. In the EPL Fulham picked up an early red card and went on to lose 3-0 at Newcastle at the weekend. Their 2 previous league matches delivered 5-0 home wins over Forest and West Ham and prior to that they gave Liverpool a scare at Anfield before going down 4-3. Fulham are just below half way in the EPL standings with 21 points.
The Verdict
These teams met early in the season at Goodison and Fulham won 1-0. Much has happened with Everton since then but their league form is red hot. Fulham had excuses at the weekend and are also in good shape.
With 3 rounds of league matches still to play over Xmas and new year team selection will be interesting but my gut feel is this could be tight and I'm going to take my chances with under 2.5 goals in total.
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Chelsea 8/10 Draw 2.94/1 Newcastle 3.21/1
Chelsea have been drawn at home in every round. They stumbled past Wimbledon with a 2-1 win before seeing off Brighton 1-0 and Blackburn 2-0. League form has been hit and miss but they were 2-0 winners at home to Sheffield United at the weekend and they occupy a mid table position.
Newcastle edged out Manchester City 1-0 at St. James Park in their first action of the competition, a game where both sides made plenty of changes to their normal starting line ups. They also fielded something resembling a reserve team away to Manchester United in the Round 16 but still came away with a 3-0 win.
Newcastle are sixth in the EPL standings and having recently finished bottom of the UCL group of death this competition and the FA Cup might well be given a higher priority.
The Verdict
When these teams met in the league as recently as 25th November Newcastle won 4-1 and Chelsea had Reece James sent off. The home sides fluctuating form and the possibility of squad rotation make an early call on this game no easy task but they look plenty short enough in the betting.
Few sides have suffered more than Newcastle in terms of injuries. The situation looks to be easing overall but they picked up a couple more knocks at the weekend and it might be worth holding fire and waiting for team sheets. Without that luxury when it comes to a preview pick I'm going to chance Nkunku to pop up for Chelsea any time (90 mins). He didn't emerge from the bench for a long awaited debut at the weekend which suggests to me he will have a role to play here.
Bets: Anytime goalscorer Nkunku at 18/10 with Playabets
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Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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