EFL Cup Final Preview

February 25, 2018
By: Deke Hardman

Sunday afternoon’s action from Wembley Stadium sees Arsenal take on Manchester City in the EFL Cup final.

The Gunners, who last won this competition twenty-five years ago are enduring a frustratingly inconsistent campaign even by their standards, though victory here would clinch them a fourth major trophy in five years.

They have eliminated Doncaster Rovers, Norwich City, West Ham United and Chelsea on the road to Wembley and they came from behind to beat the latter in the second leg of their semi-final tie last month.

David Ospina is likely to keep his place in goal having played in every round of the competition so far while Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil should feature after recovering from injury and illness respectively.

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is available after being ineligible for Thurday’s defeat to Ostersunds though Henrikn Mkhitaryan cannot play having featured for previous club Manchester United earlier in the campaign.

Aubameyang is priced at 8.0 (7/1) to get the first goal of the game with William Hill, with Danny Welbeck a 12.0 (11/1) chance with the same firm.

The North London side are priced at 5.75 (19/4) to win the match inside ninety minutes with Unibet, with their North West counterparts widely available at 1.57 (4/11). The draw can be backed at 4.55 (50/13).

Pep Guardiola’s side were knocked out of the FA Cup by League One promotion hopefuls Wigan Athletic last weekend – ending their hopes of a historic quadruple though that can take nothing away from a magnificent campaign.

They have been favourites to lift this trophy all season though they haven’t had it all their own way en route to the final, needing penalties to beat Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers in round four and Leicester City in the quarter finals.

Their campaign began with a win at West Bromwich Albion back in September while Bristol City did their best to cause an upset in the semi-finals though the Citizens eventually won the tie 5-3 on aggregate.

Like their opponents, City are set to keep faith with their second choice goalkeeper with Claudio Bravo likely to get the nod while Gabriel Jesus could make his first appearance of 2018 after recovering from a knee problem.

Raheem Sterling is doubtful with the muscle injury that kept him out of Monday’s defeat at the DW Stadium while Fabian Delph is suspended after being sent off in that game.

Top scorer Sergio Aguero is favourite to open the scoring at 4.33 (10/3) with most firms, with Jesus a 5.0 (4/1) shot with William Hill.

When these two sides meet, there is usually goals with both scoring in each of the last seven clashes.

You can back both teams to score here at 1.52 (11/21) with Unibet while Betfair offer 1.5 (1/2) for there to be three of more goals inside ninety minutes.

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