Arsenal and Manchester City will contest the final of the EFL Cup at Wembley on Sunday and we take a look at a number of options available to punters.
Prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but subject to change.
Arsenal
Arsenal came through their 2 legged semi final with Chelsea with a 4-2 aggregate win. The platform was laid in the first leg with a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge with Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimenda the scorers. The second leg at the Emirates remained without a goal until deep into injury time when Kai Havertz scored and it finished 1-0.
Arsenal’s EFL Cup run began with a 2-0 win at Port Vale before they came out on top in home fixtures against Brighton (2-0) and then Palace in a penalty shoot out after a 1-1 draw.
The Gunners are also still involved in the UCL, the FA Cup and they control the EPL title race with a 9 point lead over City who are in second place. City do have a game in hand and are still to host the Gunners in Manchester.
Man City
City’s place in the final was secured with a 5-1 aggregate win over Newcastle. A 2-0 win in the first leg at St. James Park came courtesy of goals from Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki. They finished the job in the return at The Etihad with a first half brace from Omar Marmoush and another from Tijjani Reijnders before a Newcastle consolation.
City have also progressed in the FA Cup but earlier this week they bowed out of the UCL at the Round of 16 stage, losing 2-1 at home to Real Madrid in the second leg after a 3-0 loss in the first leg in Spain. Dropped points in drawing their 2 most recent EPL matches at home to Forest and away at West Ham have been responsible for City losing more ground to Arsenal in the EPL.
Recent Head to Head
The first EPL meeting this season took place at The Emirates on the 21st September, Haaland gave City a 1-0 lead which they held until injury time when Martinelli equalized and if finished 1-1.
The Betting
Regulation Time
At the time of writing Arsenal are 11/8 to win in regulation time with the draw at 23/10 and City can be backed at around 2/1.
A game of 3 goals or more in total is priced at 9/10 and it’s 7/10 for both teams to score.
Erling Haaland’s price to score the first goal of the game has been boosted to 9/2 whilst Eze is trading at 100/30 to score any time for the Gunners.
Outright Betting
To lift the trophy under any method of victory Arsenal are 8/11 and City are 21/20
Quoted odds are subject to change
The Verdict
I’m battling to find anything I can put up with confidence but I’ll go with the Haaland 1st goalscorer price boost and a nibble at 1-1 in the regulation time correct score market
Regulation Time Bets:
1st Goalscorer Haaland boosted to 9/2 with Sportingbet
Correct Score 1-1 at 21/4 with Sportingbet
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change