Arsenal have been given a favourable draw in the EFL Cup quarter-finals and Dan Fitch expects them to take advantage against Sunderland.
Arsenal 1.21/5 v Sunderland 19.018/1; The Draw 8.07/1
Tuesday 21 September, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports Football
Gunners should make semi-final
Arsenal will be expecting to breeze through to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup when they host Sunderland on Tuesday.
There are seven Premier League clubs in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup and Arsenal have been the only one fortunate enough to draw a club from the Football League. With home advantage as well, it’s no wonder that Arsenal are very short priced favourites.
Arsenal have beaten West Brom, Wimbledon and Leeds to reach this stage. Aside from the game against Wimbledon, Mikel Arteta has picked a pretty strong lineup in the EFL Cup this season and we should expect him to do likewise here. The absence of European football has been of benefit to Arsenal’s domestic ambitions, with the Gunners currently fourth in the Premier League after their 4-1 win at Leeds on Saturday.
Arteta is one of the few Premier League managers who hasn’t seen his options diminished by Covid. He’s been able to pick the same team for the last four games, with Pablo Mari and Albert Sambi Lokonga the only players that have Covid at the time of writing. Sead Kolasinac is out with an injury, while Takehiro Tomiyasu is a doubt with a muscle problem that he picked up against Leeds at the weekend.
Sunderland take toughest test
Sunderland face the toughest test of their EFL Cup run when they visit the Premier League’s Arsenal.
Lee Johnson’s side have twice beaten Championship opposition to reach this stage, winning 3-2 at Blackpool and defeating QPR on penalties after a 0-0 draw, in the last round. In all four of their ties so far, Sunderland have been the away side, but they now face a huge step up in class from the type of teams that they have been playing.
Sunderland are aiming for promotion from League One this season under Johnson. At the weekend they drew 1-1 at Ipswich, which leaves them third in the table, four points behind the leaders Rotherham. They are now unbeaten in their last seven league games (W4 D3).
Leon Dajaku picked up an injury against Sunderland and looks likely to be out, along with Dennis Cirkin and Corry Evans, who have only just returned to training. Luke O’Nien and Aiden McGeady are long-term injury victims.
Two decent ways to back Arsenal win
Arsenal are the 1.21/5 favourites, with the draw at 8.07/1 and Sunderland at 19.018/1.
That price looks realistic for Arsenal. Arteta will have one eye on the post-Christmas fixtures, with games against Wolves and Manchester City looking particularly tough over the festive period, but it’s likely that he will select a hybrid side of first choice players and fringe squad members, rather than go for full rotation.
Arsenal are 1.75/7 to win half-time/full-time, which is a bet that’s landed in their two previous EFL Cup games against Football League sides. They have yet to concede a goal in the competition and can be backed at 1.865/6 to win to nil.
Youthful options in Arsenal attack
Over 2.5 goals landed in Arsenal’s games against West Brom and Wimbledon and is 1.574/7 to be successful again. While that’s too short to recommend, when over 2.5 goals is combined with a home win, it presents another option to back the hosts, at 1.674/6.
Arteta could give an opportunity to Eddie Nketiah, who has scored in each of the last two rounds and is 2.01/1 to find the net. Gabriel Martinelli has aslo played in the last two rounds and with three goals in his last two Premier League appearances, could represent value to score at 2.255/4.
Source: BetFair Tips
