Capital One Cup: Match Predictions

The Capital One Cup, arguably, England’s less important domestic knockout cup, is back tonight and all eyes will be on the tournament because the Premier League’s big boys will be making their first appearance in the tournament.

The League Cup (as it is originally known) is usually used by Premier League clubs to give some of their talented youngsters some game-time, especially in the early rounds, although smaller clubs tend to take the competition a little more seriously. This article is going to quickly preview and predict the results of four of the matches scheduled to take place in this round:

Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspurs

Andre Villas Boas

Villa’s recent form has been slightly mixed, and the fact that they are missing their star striker Christian Benteke through injury will only serve to compound their woes. The task of leading the line will be handed to Libor Kozak, who came off the bench against Norwich to net the winner.

Spurs, backed by a massive spending splurge in the summer, haven’t looked much better, although they do have better squad depth than Villa. Given that Spurs are playing Chelsea at White Hart Lane this Saturday, Villas-Boas will want to rest a few key players against Villa.

Youngsters Andros Townsend, Zeki Fryers and Kyle Naughton might possibly get the nod to start. Villa have a tough assignment this weekend against a strong Manchester City side, but won’t have the luxury of resting too many players unless Lambert decides not to take this particular tournament too seriously.

Prediction: Aston Villa 0-2 Tottenham