The League Cup second round kicks off tonight, with many Premier League teams entering the fray. Here’s a few things to look out for.
West Ham to kick-start their season
West Ham have seen three defeats from their last three league fixtures and the League Cup match away to AFC Wimbledon offers an opportunity for them to re-establish their belief. Manuel Pellegrini is having a hard time justifying their huge spending in the transfer window as they are yet to collect a point so far. They will be facing a relatively weak opposition in comparative terms but like we all know this will not come easy. Ever since they moved to their new stadium the League Cup has always been a source of good memories for the Hammers. They eliminated Chelsea in the same competition two years ago and they should have an easy outing against Wimbledon.
Cardiff to score?
Cardiff City are yet to score a goal since the start of the new season and they will be hoping that can come to an end when they host Norwich. Neil Warnock is expected to make a number of changes to the side that started this weekend. Christoph Zimmermann, Ben Godfrey, Dennis Srbeny and Marco Stiepermann will all be hoping for some game time alongside summer signing Emie Buendia. Warnock is yet to settle on his best 11 and a good number of his fringe players are worthy contenders for a starting place. They can convince their manager for consideration in future selections by scoring goals, and they should have enough in them to find the back of the net.
Wolves’ investment to pay off?
Wolverhampton Wanderers became the first team to take points away from Manchester City this season after securing a 1-1 draw on Saturday. They will be facing Sheffield United with the hope of registering their first win for the new campaign. They have a number of experienced players in their ranks and this was made better by a very successful transfer window. It goes without saying that they are definitely a class above United and this should be apparent in the result of this fixture or you can surely expect that to be the case.
Tough test for away Premier League sides
Newcastle United, Huddersfield and Crystal Palace will all be making trips to Nottingham Forest, Stoke City, and Swansea respectively. All the three host teams are playing in the Championship and they will not be giving anything away to their Premier League counterparts. Championship teams have a reputation of being tough on their home soil and we should not expect anything different for the Premier League sides
Reading to struggle against Watford
Watford have begun life in the new season exceptionally well as they join Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham as the only sides yet to drop points. They will make the trip to Championship strugglers reading with the hope of securing qualification to the third round of the League Cup. Like in many competitions we don’t expect an easy encounter, but Watford should be too strong for Reading to get in their way.