Match Result: Cardiff v Chelsea
Chelsea head to south Wales on Tuesday 16 December as overwhelming favourites to claim an EFL Cup victory. The Blues are trading at odds of 1.22 to enjoy a normal-time success against their League One opponents, with Enzo Maresca likely to field a weakened team for this contest. The Italian will trust his squad players to deliver a professional job.
There's likely to be a big gulf in class between the two sides, with Chelsea having enjoyed a 2-1 success at Lincoln in their first EFL Cup match. On that occasion, there were just a handful of first-team players who were selected. The same applied at Molineux on 29 October when the London side were essentially able to outscore Wolves.
On that occasion, Chelsea blew their opponents out of the water at an early stage, with Andrey Santos and Tyrique George able to fire the visitors into a 2-0 lead before Estevao essentially took the game away from the opposition. They will count on the same attacking players to outscore an opposition side who will aim to pull off an upset.
Cardiff's EFL Cup adventure has been a fun one so far. The Welsh side went to Turf Moor and raced into a two-goal lead before keeping Burnley at bay to claim a 2-1 success. There was then a 2-1 win at Wrexham in the Welsh derby. Since then, there have been four wins and three defeats in all competitions.
The Bluebirds are sitting pretty in League One considering they have accrued thirty-five points across seventeen clashes. At the time of writing, they have won four of the past five games in all competitions, with the latest of these successes being a 3-2 win over Huddersfield. However, this is a big ask for the team despite their opponents' busy fixture schedule.
Goals Under/Over
A high goal count might well be on the cards here. In the past six matches involving Cardiff in all competitions, we have seen Over 2.5 Goals happen in all of them. That 3-2 win over Huddersfield came after a 5-1 Football League Trophy defeat against Wimbledon. There was previously a 3-0 win over Mansfield and a 3-1 victory at Northampton.
The Bluebirds will be determined to have a go at opponents who conceded against Lincoln and also three times against a weakened Wolves side. Therefore, Cardiff might well bow out of the competition with a bright attacking display, although we know that Chelsea pack lots of scoring power and will aim to rack up the goals.
We won't see the majority of the Chelsea stars on show but there could be a case for going for Over 3.5 Goals. There could well be four or more scored in the Welsh capital and something along the lines of a 3-1 away victory could be on the cards.
BTTS
The big question is whether Cardiff City will find the net in this game. If you think it will happen, then you may want to take the 2.20 for the BTTS Yes selection. There's every chance that the Bluebirds will notch a consolation and Enzo Maresca won't be particularly bothered about conceding if his side are able to book a safe passage into the semi-finals where they will stand a great chance of reaching Wembley.
At the time of writing, the Bluebirds have scored in each of their previous six encounters. They also found the net twice away to Burnley and Wrexham, so there's every chance that they are able to register at least one goal when facing a Chelsea second string side. Let's bear in mind that the London team have a very busy fixture schedule throughout December.
We think the best bet of the night could be to back Chelsea to win along with BTTS Yes. This is a bet with which we can feel confident. There is going to be plenty of attacking play from the League One side who will surely not aim to park the bus against opposition which have shown their ability to put a number of goals past teams such as Barcelona.
First Goalscorer
Naturally, you may want to wait for the latest team news and starting XI's before making your goalscorer picks. Tyrique George looks a likely starter in this game and he has scored in both EFL Cup matches for Chelsea this season. The England Under-21 international was also on target against Ajax in the Champions League, with the teenager likely to have some joy against a Cardiff side who concede plenty.
Andrey Santos might also be among the goals, with Jamie Gittens potentially earning a start and he's another young player who can trouble a defence that might struggle to deal with the pace of the attacking forwards. Estevao may or may not be given the nod and he has recently forced his way into the Brazil squad.
Yousef Salech is the division's leading scorer when it comes to League One. The Dane is clearly a solid marksman at third tier level and he'll be aiming to make his mark on a big stage against Chelsea. The forward may well earn a move in the January transfer window and the twenty-three-year-old is by far the most likely scorer for the Bluebirds.