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The Carling Cup Semi Finals are now upon with Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester United & Manchester City all knowing they are just 2 games away from a Wembley Cup Final & so everything is to play for.
These Semi Final matches certainly do look set to be dramatic & entertaining encounters with Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa taking on Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers while the great Manchester rivals of City & United take each other on.

We have had a good look at how we think all the teams involved will approach these games, how the games will develop & to go with that the value betting options that we feel are worth consideration.

Blackburn Rovers vs Aston Villa – (Tuesday 8.00pm)

Neither Blackburn Rovers or Aston Villa would have had this competition as one of their priorities when the season began but now we have reached Semi Final stage that definitely changes & this is now a massive opportunity for both clubs to taste domestic success.

Sam Allardyce & Martin O’Neill are both fierce competitors whom we expect to take this game very seriously indeed & we do expect them both to have their teams fully fired up for this one.

The twist to this fixture is both teams clashed in the F.A. Cup at the weekend with Aston Villa coming out on top so that will give some confidence to Aston Villa but at the same time motivate Blackburn Rovers to improve & show what they can do so this should be a cracking game & atmosphere.

Sam Allardyce knows that Blackburn’s strength this season has been at home as they showed by knocking out Chelsea & he will know that Blackburn have to aim to take a lead into the 2nd leg because of how poor their away record is.

We are expecting Blackburn Rovers to be set up to play a high tempo, physically competitive game but also attempt to keep the Aston Villa attack under control because their attacking pace will be a big concern for Blackburn’s defence.

The one major weakness for Blackburn Rovers is that they do not score enough goals & that has to be a big concern against an Aston Villa side who are well capable of being hard to break down.

Martin O’Neill & his Aston Villa players have suffered a few heavy blows to their confidence & belief in recent weeks with defeats against Arsenal & Liverpool which has rocked their Premier League hopes so this Semi Final now becomes an even game because of that.

Martin O’Neill knows this competition is a massive opportunity for Aston Villa to win a trophy & we are expecting Aston Villa to do everything they can to get to the final & give themselves a chance of winning the cup.

The defeats against Arsenal & Liverpool were a big blow to Aston Villa but they showed the character & the excellent team spirit they have by bouncing back to beat Blackburn 3-1 in the F.A. Cup & that win should give them the confidence to go for it in this match.

Martin O’Neill & his players also have the extra motivation of wanting to get revenge on Blackburn for beating them 2-1 when the sides met here in the Premier League & so we do expect a really positive, attacking Aston Villa performance here.

This should be a good game because Blackburn Rovers know they probably need to take a win into the 2nd leg while Aston Villa will want the same so there could be a few goals here & we like the look of Aston Villa as a good bet show their extra allround quality & get a vital 1st leg win.

Betting Recommendations:

Outright Match Betting: Aston Villa to win

Correct Score options: Aston Villa to win 2-1/3-1

First goalscorer each way/Player to score anytime: Agbonlohar/Carew/Milner

Scorecast options: Agbonlohar/Carew/Milner score 1st & Aston Villa win 2-1/3-1

Double Result: Aston Villa Half Time & Full Time

Manchester City vs Manchester United – (Wednesday 7.45pm)

What a game we have in prospect here with the great Manchester rivals of City & United clashing in what definitely could be one of the games of the season.

The local element has always dictated that these two clubs are fierce rivals but now this fixture means so much more because Manchester City are aiming to reach the incredibly high standards set by Manchester United and so this is so much more than just about getting to a cup final.

This match represents the first opportunity for the great players of Manchester City & Manchester United to show who can earn the right to claim not only the local bragging rights for fans but also to make a statement to the footballing world.

Manchester United have the motivation of wanting to defend the trophy the fought hard to win last year & the opportunity to beat Manchester City along the way is something that should inspire them to give absolutely everything here.

Alex Ferguson knows that Manchester United cannot afford to lose this tie against Manchester City & especially after being beaten by Leeds United in the F.A. Cup so we are expecting a really fierce & committed response from the Manchester United players in this one.

Manchester United always respond after losing & the pain of putting in a poor performance & losing against Leeds United will surely mean the Manchester United players come out fighting in this one & totally determined to go for the win.

Importantly for Manchester United, we expect the likes of Patrice Evra, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs & Antonio Valencia to return to the starting line-up which should definitely improve Manchester United & make them a much more solid team unit than the one that played so poorly against Leeds.

Manchester City have made it clear that their ambitions are to get into the Champions League & to win the Premier League but this opportunity to win a domestic cup & knock out their arch rivals is a massive opportunity for them to make their mark.

Roberto Mancini is still settling in as Manchester City & indeed it will tame him some time to get used to english football but the three wins Man City have enjoyed since he took over will certainly help that process.

Admittedly the 3 wins against Stoke City, Wolves & Middlesbrough have been 3 steady introductions to english football for Roberto Mancini & indeed Man City would have been expected to have won those games no matter who was in charge but wins breed confidence & that is a big factor coming into such an important match.

Roberto Mancini rested the majority of his main players against Middlesbrough & clearly the motivation for that was to have the likes of Tevez, Bellamy, Robinho all fit & ready for this massive game and we do expect Manchester City to be really pumped up for this one.

Both Manchester City & Manchester United have shown a tendency to be fragile defensively so far this season & given the attacking quality in both squads we are expecting this to be an incredibly competitive but open match and goals do look likely to come at both ends.

The perfect example of what to expect came earlier in the season when Manchester United & Manchester City fought out the best game of the season so far with United winning 4-3 with an incredibly late goal.

That game had absolutely everything with great attacking football, excellent goals, incredibly competitive tackling & also fragile defending so the prospect are definitely for the same again here.

This is an incredibly hard game to call given what is at stake for both Manchester City & Manchester United and neither side will want to lose this match so that made the draw a very tempting option but we are going to side with Manchester United to bounce back & get a massive away win over their rivals.

Betting Recommendations:

Outright Match Betting: Manchester United to win

Correct Score options: Manchester United to win 2-1/3-1

First goalscorer each way/Player to score anytime: Rooney/Berbatov/Valencia

Scorecast options: Rooney/Berbatov/Valencia score 1st & Man United win 2-1/3-1

Double Result: Man United Half Time & Full Time