England League Cup, Semifinals - 1st Leg

[spkutano]

 

[spkutano]

Chelsea vs Tottenham Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Chelsea:
Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Sarr; Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Saul Niguez, Alonso; Ziyech, Pulisic; Havertz

Tottenham:
Lloris; Tanganga, Sanchez, Davies; Emerson, Winks, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Son, Kane, Gil

The League Cup in England continues with the semi-finals' first-leg matches. On Wednesday Chelsea host the city rivals Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have eliminated Aston Villa, Southampton and Brentford in the previous stages of the competition. However, the overall form isn't at highest level in the last period. They failed to register a victory on four of the last five matches in the Premier League. The opponents were not naive - Everton, Wolverhampton, Brighton and Liverpool, but that's should not be an excuse for the team with highest ambitions. The only victory was obtained against Aston Villa. Chelsea won 3:1, mostly thanks to Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian forward came as substitute and scored in 56th minute, and then earned a penalty. However, Lukaky had a controversial interview that spoiled the atmosphere in the squad. Tuchel decided to punish him and Lukaku wasn't part of the squad in Sunday's derby with Liverpool. Most probably he won't be considered for selection here either. First-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is with Senegalese national team at Africa Cup of Nations. In addition, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Andreas Christensen and Timo Werner are expected to miss out. Kepa Arrizabalaga will replace Mendy, while Jorginho, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Saul Niguez are hoping for a place in the starting eleven.

Tottenham have eliminated Wolverhampton, Burnley and West Ham so far in the Carabao Cup. This competition represents Spurs' best chance to finally end their 13-year trophy drought. Interesting, their last piece of silverware came exactly in this cup in 2008. Furthermore, they beat Chelsea in the final. The current form is good as they have two wins and one draw on the last three matches. Tottenham managed to beat Crystal Palace and Watford, while shared the points with Southampton. Victory against Watford at Vicarage Road was very important as it is the first and only away win under Conte. Nevertheless, the fact is players look re-energized since Antonio Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo. The Italian tactician is the first manager in Tottenham's history not to lose any of his first eight league games at the helm. The atmosphere in the squad is much better, while the players confidence is high. Conte has no fresh injury or suspension concerns from the narrow 1:0 win at Watford, but Steven Bergwijn, Cristian Romero and Ryan Sessegnon remain sidelined. It is not clear if Conte will decide to make some rotation or will continue with his established first eleven that played over the Christmas period. Japhet Tanganga, Harry Winks, Bryan Gil and Dele Alli could provide some fresh legs, but one man is hard to be replaced - Harry Kane will probably lead the line again.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Prediction:

I expect a big fight, lot of nervous and yellow cards, but I do not expect lot of goals here. This is only the first match, so I believe Tuchel and Conte will not risk too much. In addition, the key players from both teams are tired after the busy festive period. Chelsea will likely go without a recognized striker once more, so I see a low scoring match in London.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Pick: Under 2,5 goals @ 1.88 with Bet365

 

[philipet87]

We will see London Final. Arsenal are performing quite good in their last game against City, Liverpool is without players. In the other match it will be more interesting. Chelsea is struggling to get in form, while Conte find how to play with Spurs. In this match is more complicated, but i will choose Spurs - I think they will be luckier .

 

[spkutano]

Arsenal vs Liverpool Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Arsenal:
Leno, Tomiyasu, White, Holding, Tierney, Xhaka, Lokonga, Smith Rowe, Odegaard, Saka, Nketiah

Liverpool:
Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Konate, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Curtis Jones, Gordon, Jota, Oxlade-Chamberlain

Arsenal will be looking to take advantage from Liverpool's issues when these two sides face in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. The Gunners produced one of their bets performances this weekend against the leaders Manchester City, but were unlucky to stay unbeaten. They lost 2:1 at the end, but some referee's decision were against them. Saka scored in the 31st minute, but that wasn't enough for a positive result. There were two penalty situations during the match, with both decisions going on Man City side. Ederson's tackle on Martin Odegaard was denied following a long VAR check, while the similar contact in the second half resulted with penalty against Arsenal. Mahrez converted the penalty and few minutes later Gabriel Magalhaes was sent off. Pep Guardiola's men dominated against 10-men Arsenal and Rodri scored the winning goal in the 93rd minute for his team's 11th successive league win. Arteta, who was forced to watch from home following a positive Covid-19 test, has lot of issues ahead of the semi-final. Mohamed Elneny, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Partey are all on international duty, while Gabriel Magalhaes is suspended following the red card against Manchester City. Albert Sambi Lokonga and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have returned to the squad for the weekend after recovering from COVID-19, but Pablo Mari is rated as doubtful. Reserve goalkeeper Bernd Leno should start here having done so in the previous rounds of this competition. Defender Sead Kolasinac remain out injured.

Liverpool have eliminated Norwich City, Preston and Leicester City on penalties on the way to the semi-finals. But right now, they are in very complicated situation. First of all, they failed to win any of the last three matches in the Premier League. The Reds played a 2:2 draw with Tottenham, then lost 1:0 to Leicester City and finally played another 2:2 draw with Chelsea. All three matches were away from home, but that shouldn't be an excuse for a side with champion's ambition. Dropping seven points is simply too much, particularly because Manchester City is very consistent. I believe Jurgen Klopp is well aware of that fact, even he said the battle for the first place is still open. But right now he has an additional problem -his key players are unavailable for various reason. The best scorer Mohamed Salah is with Egypt on Africa Cup of Nations. Only his absence is a huge handicap, but there is more as Sadio Mane is also at AFCON with Senegal, as well as Naby Keita with Guinea. Roberto Firmino, Joel Matip and Alisson all tested positive for COVID-19 and missed out the last match with the Blues. Finally, five players are sidelined with injuries, including two back-up strikers Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino. That means Klopp has only Jota as recognized forward available for this match. The remaining three injury victims are Thiago Alcantara, Nathaniel Phillips and Harvey Elliott.

Arsenal vs Liverpool Prediction:

I expect a low scoring match at the Emirats. Both teams will miss a lot of players through injury, COVID-19 and the Africa Cup of Nations. Liverpool are known as scoring machine, but everything is different in situation when they are without well-known attacking trio of Salah, Firmino and Mane. That's not all, Origi and Minamino are also unavailable, meaning Jota is the only recognized striker in the team. Klopp will surely make some improvisations, but one thing is clear - Liverpool attack won't be dangerous as usual. At the same time, with defense and midfield almost complete, the Reds can still frustrate this youthful Arsenal players.

Arsenal vs Liverpool Pick: Under 2.5 goals @ 2.19 with SBOBET

 

[spkutano]

Chelsea vs Tottenham Pick: Under 2,5 goals @ 1.88 with Bet365

2-0

 

[philipet87]

2-0

Total dominance by Chelsea. Tottenham still have little change. But after this performance, i don't know how they will do something.

 

[Betting Forum]

Total dominance by Chelsea. Tottenham still have little change. But after this performance, i don't know how they will do something.

Tuchel is an amazing coach. He does not get enough praise for what he is.

 

[spkutano]

Still, everything is possible. With support of their fans, I think the Spurs could win.