Black Cats could be Wembley bound under O`Neill

Martin O`Neill had a thing for the English Capital One Cup when he was managing Leicester and Aston Villa and that makes Sunderland the best bet on Tuesday`s 10-tie card.

For some top-flight bosses the English Capital One Cup serves as an unwelcome distraction and even some of the managers operating in the second tier do not take the knockout tournament all that seriously. But never has O`Neill treated the competition with such disdain.

Under O`Neill, Leicester took out the English Capital One Cup title in 1997 and 2000, also making the final in 1999. After a successful spell leading Celtic in Scotland, O`Neill joined Aston Villa and guided it to the 2010 final in which it went down 1-2 to Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

The key to betting on English Capital One Cup matches is to identify good teams whose managers are interested in getting through to the latter stages. Sunderland, with O`Neill at the helm, fits into that category and the Black Cats are worth backing at around 6-5 to win at Milton Keynes.

That Sunderland is odds on with one of the smartest football bookmakers - ladbrokes - is a real positive because its odds setters have researched the match and reached the conclusion that O`Neill is going to put out a relatively strong side.

Even though Milton Keynes is one of the best English League One teams, if it was hosting Sunderland in a game in which both clubs were guaranteed to name their strongest possible sides, the match betting would be something like 5-1 home win, 3-1 draw and 4-7 away win. So one can see that the potential value in supporting the Black Cats at 6-5.

Sunderland is yet to lose a competitive game this season and O`Neill will be keen for his team to register what would be only its second victory in six matches, if for no other reason than to boost confidence ahead of upcoming English Premier League clashes with Wigan, Manchester City and Newcastle in the first Tyne-Wear derby of the term.

Milton Keynes has won four and drawn the other of its five home games in all competitions this season but it has not played a side as talented as Sunderland, which has managed away draws against Arsenal, Swansea and West Ham in the English elite. The Black Cats are a value bet at 6-5.

English Premier League struggler Southampton stand out at around 8-11 - ladbrokes is 8-13 - to get the better of second-tier Sheffield Wednesday at St Mary`s Stadium.

Nigel Adkins made 11 changes when the Saints played away to Stevenage in the last round of the English Capital One Cup but, having seen the pressure on him and his players eased by Saturday`s 4-1 home victory over Aston Villa, surely he will be reluctant to tinker too much and risk losing the momentum that the weekend`s performance generated.

Southampton, even if Adkins mixed up things, is too big at 4-5 versus an Owls team that has lost four matches on the spin and has two very important away games in the English Championship around the corner. The minds of the visiting players and their boss could be a long way from St Mary`s.

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24/09/2012     © Frixo 2024