Carling Cup - First Round

[admin]

The first round of the Carling Cup takes place mid-week, with the majority of the fixtures taking place early Wednesday morning AEST.

bet365 will broadcast live video of Leeds v Bradford and Nottingham Forest v Notts County.

The odds for some of the inter-division fixtures may seem a bit generous towards the higher division teams, but keep in mind that many sides will fields weakened squads against lower division opponents. Be sure to check the starting line ups before wagering.

Below are the bet365 head-to-head odds (subject to change).

[pominoz]

Cardiff @ 2.00 against Oxford? Hmmm, tempting.

Depending on the team selections, Crystal Palace (1.90), Brighton (1.53), Derby (1.57), Ipswich (1.40), Nottingham Forrest (1.61), Leicester (1.53) Southampton (1.50), Middlesbrough (2.00) and Cardiff (2.00) could be worth a shout. You could make small wagers on a whole bag of them and hope for a profit.

Leicester have one of the deepest squads (and pockets) in the league, which makes their odds against Rotherham very enticing.

It will all come down to how much each team wants it. If you don't have a deep squad then a League Cup run could be an unwelcome distraction.

Shall wait until Tue evening before committing to anything.

[admin]

London riots hit sports fixtures as Carling Cup games off
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/front_page/14454137.stm

The fixtures affected thus far are:

• Tuesday: Charlton v Reading
• Tuesday: West Ham v Aldershot

Crystal Palace v Crawley may also be postponed.

[admin]

The BBC has published previews of each fixture, including some team info, here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...up/default.stm

[qtip]

Ipswich should be a real handfull. they are generally very good at home and they opened their Championship campaign with a 3-0 away win over Bristol City.

I also back Southampton at home against Torquay and Leicester away against Rotherham.

Note that numerous championship players are out due to mid-week international commitments.

[admin]

From the BBC:

Crystal Palace's Carling Cup tie against Crawley Town has been rescheduled for Tuesday 23 August after tonight's match was postponed following the London riots.

[pominoz]

I ended up going for $5 each on the following:

Crystal Palace @ 2.01 --> refund
Ipswich @ 1.50 --> loss
Leicester @ 1.59 --> win
Southampton @ 1.47 --> win
Cardiff @ 2.02 --> win

Net return: $5.39