League Cup Odds: Back Manchester City to lift the trophy for the fifth time in six years

The League Cup gets underway in just over three weeks time, with the first round of ties set to take place on the week commencing 8 August 2022. Liverpool managed to win this competition for the first time in ten years when beating Chelsea in the final on penalties of the most recent renewal, and we’ve taken a look at the market and who you should be backing this time round.

Last 10 Winners

• 2022: Liverpool
• 2021: Manchester City
• 2020: Manchester City
• 2019: Manchester City
• 2018: Manchester City
• 2017: Manchester United
• 2016: Manchester City
• 2015: Chelsea
• 2014: Manchester City
• 2013: Swansea City

The Market

Favourites with all bookmakers to lift the trophy on 26 February 2023 is Manchester City, who are available at a best price of 7/2 with several firms including Unibet. This is a competition that City have thrived in over the last decade lifting the trophy on six of the last nine occasions. 

Next in the market are the holders Liverpool, who are a current best-price of 7/1 with BetVictor. The Reds were backed-in to as short as 4/1 to win the Quadruple last season and you’d have to fancy they will challenge in numerous formats in 2022/2023. Chelsea are slightly bigger at 8/1 as their new era under Todd Boehly begins, with Manchester United next at 10/1. 

It’s slightly surprising to see that Spurs are a bigger price than Manchester United with some bookmakers, considering how much shorter Tottenham are in the Premier League winner market. Antonio Conte’s side are a current top-price of 11/1 with 10bet to be crowned Carabao Cup Champions this season, although this is a competition that the Italian has never won before. 

Fellow North Londoners Arsenal can be found at 14/1, followed by West Ham at 18’s. Newcastle and Leicester are both 22/1 with one firm, with Aston Villa rounding off the top-ten in the betting at 25/1 with Betway. 

Back Manchester City

So who should you be siding with in this market at the current prices? To cut straight to the chase, it’s pretty difficult to stay away from Manchester City here, with 7/2 a very backable price in our opinion.

Pep’s side have proven pedigree and a remarkable record in this competition, and prior to Liverpool’s victory in 2022, they had won the last four runnings of the League Cup. All four of those have come under the current manager, and although Erling Haaland may often be rested for this competition, signings such as Kalvin Phillips and Julian Alvarez may well feature, with the latter a serious problem for lower league defences.

The Premier League so-called ‘big-six’ often rotate their sides heavily in the League Cup, especially in the earlier rounds. When going through the squads of those at the top of the Premier League it’s clear to see that the strength and depth that City possess gives them a stronger second XI than anyone else.

Pep Guardiola is a huge advocate of rotating his side week-in week-out, particularly in the first half of the campaign, with the Spaniard being well aware of the physical demands of a gruelling season when competing in four formats. This paves the way for their World Class players to still feature in the League Cup alongside some of the younger players such as Cole Palmer and James McAtee. At 7/2 City look a solid shout for a fifth League Cup in six years and we wouldn’t put anyone off using them as a cornerstone of their ante-post accas too! 

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