Carling Cup Football Betting 2011-2012
The Carling Cup is one of the more under rated cup competitions in English football. It seems to mean everything to the sides in the three divisions below the Premier League but not so much to the top sides in the country who use the competition as an excuse to rest top players and blood youths.
This trend is not going to change any time soon and it's something which makes Carling Cup football betting 2011-2012 a lot more difficult. All Football League sides raise their game when they play a Premier League big boy and more often than not this causes some surprising results.
There are a couple of big sides that are going to be under real pressure to win the Carling Cup this season. The likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have all gone lengthy periods without winning and they are all sides that everyone else would like to dump out of the competition.
Carling Cup Football Betting
Carling Cup football betting differs very little from the trends which appear in other cup competitions such as the FA Cup. The Premier League sides are always going to be the favourites because they have better players and don't enter the tournament at the first round stage.
Carling Cup English Football Betting is best approached by waiting to see what teams the big boys put out. This will make it much easier to work out if an Arsenal or a Manchester United can realistically be knocked out by a lower league club. A good example of this is when Coventry City put out Manchester United at Old Trafford in the recent past.
There is not always the best value in Carling Cup Betting because of these weakened sides that the big teams put out. They will commonly still enjoy the odds on prices from most of the bookmakers but it becomes a weaker bet because the calibre of players is not as strong.
Format of the Carling Cup
The format of the Carling Cup for 2011-2012 will be exactly the same as previous years and the same format as the FA Cup. Football League sides play each other from the first round stage with some Premier League teams coming in at round two and the top seeds entering at round three.
The competition is a knock out tournament from start to finish with only the winners progressing through the early rounds to the last eight, semi-finals and then the final at Wembley.
Importance of the Carling Cup
The importance of the Carling Cup has been called into question before and there have even been ideas raised about changing the format of the tournament so it's less demanding on the Premier League big teams.
However, these initial ideas have been banished by the football league clubs who see the chance to win any silverware as massively important. Some Premier League bosses make no attempt to hide the fact they do not see the importance of the Carling Cup as very high at all.
Any competition which gives the eventual winners a chance to play in the UEFA Europa League has to be worth fighting for and this is what keeps the action so competitive from the Football League clubs.
Carling Cup Favourites for 2011-2012
Expect most of the big boys to be considered as the Carling Cup favourites for 2011-2012 but keep an eye out for a Football League side that could cause an upset. Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs will all be in with a good chance of winning this tournament.
The reason these sides are the Carling Cup favourites for 2011-2012 is because the calibre of their younger players is superb. Cesc Fabregas made his debut for Arsenal in this competition and the standard of these younger players is often high enough to compete against most Football League teams.
Carling Cup 2011-2012 Fixtures
A full list of fixtures and details of the competition can be viewed by going to the official Carling Cup website.