European Football - League Cup Preview - Free Tips and Prediction



Top tips and predictions for European League Cup matches, featuring Manchester United vs. Tottenham in another installment of the historic FA Cup.

European Football - League Cup Preview

The top flight leagues in Europe offer up a interesting array of League Cup matches this weekend, with England presenting its pair of historical FA Cup Semi-Finals fixtures, and Spain set to provide another chapter in their Copa del Rey series.

Enjoy a break from the Domestic schedule, as these storied clubs look to add hard earned Silverware to their already rich trophy cases, and provide a great amount of pride too their loyal supporters.


13601 Manchester United vs 13602 Tottenham

Wembley Stadium, London, England

4-21-2018 - 12:15 pm ET

This Big Six match-up should live up to it's billing, as these two clubs are scheduled to meet for the third time this season, with each team taking a win on their own pitches previously.

Tottenham enter Saturdays meeting as the official visitors, but they hold an advantage as the Spurs used Wembley Stadium as their home away from home this season, while the new White Hart Lane is being constructed.

This should play to the Londoners advantage, with the familiarity of the pitch and surroundings, Tottenham would be well served to use those specific's in their favor.

Mauricio Pochettino will want to use every angle he can, as he is in pursuit of his first trophy with the club. The Argentine head man has experienced a tremendous amount of success while in charge Spurs, turning the London side into a perennial power in the Premier League, but he will never truly get the recognition he deserves until he adds a trophy to the Tottenham silverware collection.

Spurs will field one of their stronger line-ups in pursuit of reaching the finals, having rested key figures Dele Alli, Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier during their midweek fixture, we should see a relatively fresh unit come the opening whistle.

Pochettino looks to keep his traditional 4-2-3-1 formation in tact, but there has been a thought he could switch to a three man back-line against the potent Red Devils attack.

The Spurs manager will certainly lean on the services of Harry Kane, to lead the Tottenham front-line at Wembley. Kane has just recently returned from a significant ankle injury, and is just now beginning to get back to full fitness.

The England International will fill his usual Center Forward position, looking to feed off penetrating through balls, and precise services into the box where he is a deadly accurate finisher.

The Tottenham tally's man has accounted for 38 Goals scored in all competitions, making it no secret as to who Spurs will look to put the ball in the back of the net.

Christian Eriksen will enter Wembley looking to be a dynamic play-maker from his Central Midfield location. The Dane is truly special at unlocking defenses, and placing passes on a string for his marks-men to complete the final product.

Eriksen also brings an added element during Set Piece and Direct Free kicks situations, his placement of service and rare ability to hit the back of the net from long range distances, gives defenses an added challenge to defend against.

Deli Alli and Heung-Min Son could be true wildcards in the Spurs attack. This partnership are proficient finishers themselves, though often in the shadow of Kane in the attack, it would not be a total shock to see either on the score-line at the end of this FA Cup event.

Alli and Son have combined for 30 Goals scored in all competitions, keep this duo in mind when Tottenham go forward in the final third of the pitch.

Tottenham have been in rare form as visitors during this competition, scoring an average of 3 Goals per match, in their last 3 FA Cup away games.

The Spurs defense should be bolstered by the addition of regular GK-Hugo Lloris, his presence should help a already  stern back-end who are conceding an average of 1 Goal per match, during their last 3 FA Cup away games.

Manchester United travel to London looking to add yet another trophy to their impressive total. The Red Devils understand the importance of lifting Silverware each campaign, and should give an inspired effort.

Jose Mourinho will hope for a better performance than what was applied last Sunday, as his high profile club managed to lose 0-1 to bottom of the table West Brom at the "Theatre of Dreams", but the Manchester side did rebound for a 0-2 victory against Bournemouth during the week.

Mourinho himself also rested key players ahead of this fixture, electing to leave Nemanja Matic, Romelu Lukaku and Antonio Valencia out of the starting eleven, in hopes his key members would be fully rested ahead of this important contest.

Romelu Lukaku much like Harry Kane is the main threat in the Red Devils attack, the imposing Center Forward himself is also best when being feed service into the box, and given creative through balls to allow him to finish in open field situations.

The Belgium target man has been less reliable than the Spurs Striker, often going missing over large stretches of matches, and failing to truly make a mark on a consistent basis.

Lukaku is a a true talent though, and has the physical attributes to be one of the best finishers in the world, Man U will need him to rise to this specific occasion, as he has scored 28 Goals in all competitions, and has a match winner in him at anytime he is one the pitch.

The Red Devils have also been quite comfortable in a 4-2-3-1 formation, although they have been more willing to use a 4-3-3 alignment since the arrival of Alexis Sanchez in the Winter transfer window.

The Chilean offers more attacking options when in their opponents side of the pitch, his all around creativity with ball at his feet gives Mourinho additional options going forward.

Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford are true X-Factors going into this match-up, as each can come up large when least expected, although it is unclear which will start or even see significant time on Saturday, if given the proper opportunities to succeed, we could see valuable contributions from this collection of youthful talent.

Manchester United have been a proficient group when considered the hosts, scoring an above average 2 Goals per match, in their last 2 FA Cup home games.

The Red Devils defense should also have the services of their first team Goal Keeper, as David De Gea who generally gets rest during cup proceedings, is in line to get the start in between the sticks, which should help bolster an already stingy defense that has failed to concede a Goal as the hosts.

Prediction:

Spurs had their way with the Red Devils the last time they met at Wembley, jumping out to a quick first half lead, and eventually taking a 2-0 victory at the end of the 90 minutes.

Manchester United now return to this hallowed ground with a updated squad, and a history of having great success against the London side over the years, having won 9 of the last 11 meetings with Spurs in all competitions.

The Red Devils have also been on a scoring tear during all FA Cup matches, scoring a minimum of 2 Goals in 7 of the last 8 games they have been apart of.

Tottenham enter this fixture having enjoyed their own scoring successes in League Cup play, having hit the back of the net at least 2 times, in 10 of the last 11 FA Cup matches.

Both clubs enjoy a possession based style of play, looking to get out and run with quick counter attacking styles of attack, and leaning on their explosive Center Forwards to put the ball in the back of the net.

Jose Mourinho has been known to clam up on the defensive side just looking to get a positive result against big clubs, but with this being a League Cup game you would expect a more direct free flowing style of attack, leading to a open fixture and goals to be scored.

I anticipate Both Teams getting on the scoreboard, with Tottenham looking like the side to eventually advance to the finals, as Pochettino attempts to collect his first trophy as Spurs head man.

Tip:

Both Teams To Score - "YES"  -125 / 1.8


*Spain - Copa del Rey Tip*

12101 Sevilla vs 12102 Barcelona

4-21-2018 - 3:30 pm ET

Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals   -115 / 1.87


Best Of Luck To All


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