Capital One Cup
The second semi final first leg takes place tonight at Goodison Park with Man City travelling to play Everton. Both teams have plenty of goals in them and have been shaky at the back (particularly Everton) so this has the makings of a great tie.
City have the majority of their main players back now with only Vincent Kompany on the sidelines still. Pellegrini has played team so far in this competition and I think they will be full strength tonight which will mean Everton will have to cope the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero. Now is it clear that Pep Guardiola is coming to the Premiership, Pellegrini will be keen to win as much as possible this season to try and keep his job so we can be sure of a City team going all out tonight.
Everton have looked good in patches this season but have conceded a lot of goals and they will have to be at their very best tonight to stop that happening again. Their front three of Delofeu, Barkley and Lukaku will surely cause City problems as well though so I think this will finish with both teams scoring at least one and City taking a lead back to the Etihad.
With plenty of goals expected and with City's front four or five back in form, a speculative bet on Sergio Aguero to score a hat trick could be interesting. He scored a fine winning goal at Watford over the weekend and looks to be regaining his sharpness following a spell on the sidelines. Skybet are offering odds of 28/1 on this happening and if he manages to score early on, I think we could get a good run for our money.
14:10 Huntingdon
Value At Risk for Dan Skelton was fifth in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham in March which shows he was a decent staying hurdler. He was well backed on his chase debut at Newbury in November but fell at the second fence. He is highly thought of and I am willing to ignore that mistake as these things happen and if completing a clear round today he has a great chance. This is a huge drop down in class compared with that race and he does look the class act of the field, therefore I fully expect him to win here today before going on to better things.
Closing Ceremony for Emma Lavelle was a good hurdler and was a top rated 146. He makes his chasing debut today and can give the selection the most to think about.
Today's Selections
Everton v Man City - City win - 2 points @ 11/10 (Betfred)
Sergio Aguero hat trick - 1 point @ 28/1 (Skybet)
Huntingson 14:10 - Value At Risk - 2 points @ 11/8 (Bet365, Betfred)