MANCHESTER CITY were denied five League Cups in a row last season when Liverpool lifted the trophy and beaten finalists Chelsea will try and knock them out again on Wednesday in a third round tie.
Pep Guardiola takes the Carabao Cup seriously, certainly compared with some managers and the bad news for Chelsea is that he's hinted Erling Haaland could be in line for a start after coming off the bench in his usual devastating style against Fulham at the weekend to convert a penalty.
With only one more game to go before the World Cup break and Norwegian Haaland not featuring in Qatar, there's no real reason why City won't go strong, especially as their final league game before the break is at home to Brentford.
Chelsea remain something of a mystery under Graham Potter. It's not quite clicked for him yet and they were frustrated after a rare win for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge at the weekend.
They've now collected just two points from a possible 12 in their last four league games and they were also battered at Brighton. They could do with a pick-me-up going into the break and the weekend trip to in-form Newcastle United may well be the priority.
How the bookies view it
The odds are pretty much what you would expect for a Premier League game so the layers believe both sides will be at full strength.
Manchester City are a best-priced 1/2 with Coral, while Chelsea can be backed at 23/4 with UniBet. The draw is 4/1 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
City won both games 1-0 in the league last season on their way to the title to gain a measure of revenge to that Champions League Final loss last year.
Players to watch
There's only one man who will get all the attention and he's the goalscoring machine called Haaland. That weekend penalty was his 18th league goals in just 11 starts. Quite the stat. However, bookies are giving nothing away understandably and he is 4/6 with UniBet to score anytime at the Etihad.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has yet to catch fire at Chelsea with only three goals so far. He is 7/2 with bet365 to score.
Anything else catch the eye?
Providing City don't rotate severely – and there's no indication they will – they should be far too strong for a Chelsea side who are still drifting somewhat under Potter.
If Brighton can beat Chelsea 4-1, City should be able to cover a one-goal handicap and that is the call at 13/10 with Paddy Power.
Chelsea have managed just three goals in their last four league games and City will fancy their chances of shutting them out here. A home win to nil is a decent price of 7/4 with BetVictor.
This EFL Cup match between Manchester City and Chelsea will be played on Nov 9, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester City vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
