EFL Cup semi-finals: Blues on the brink of Wembley

Chelsea already have one foot in the EFL Cup final as they prepare to take on Tottenham in the second leg of the semi-final on Wednesday.

Liverpool and Arsenal, however, are only at the first-leg stage with the game rescheduled for Thursday after the Reds’ squad was severely depleted by Covid although manager Jurgen Klopp subsequently said many of those cases were false positives.

The two Manchester sides have between them won the last six finals, with Chelsea the last club from outside the north-west city to lift the trophy in 2015.

Next month’s final will be the first not to feature Manchester City since 2016 and there will also be a welcome return for fans with less than 8,000 permitted to attend last year.

Blues on brink of Wembley final

Thomas Tuchel’s side dominated Spurs in the opening half of the first leg with a Kai Havertz strike and a Ben Davies own goal enough to ease them through at Stamford Bridge.

The north London side had to wait until the 50^th minute for a shot while the Blues created but squandered chances with the gulf between the top three and the rest apparent.

They put five past National League leaders Chesterfield in the FA Cup at the weekend and are at 2.7 to win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium  on Wednesday.

A 2-0 victory for Chelsea is at 12.5 with a Blues clean sheet at 3.3.

Spurs had to come from a goal down to beat Morecambe with three second-half goals while midfielder Tanguy Ndombele – their record signing – was booed off.

They are going to have to score early if they are to get back into the game, and they have to go for it, so odds of 3.55 for them to strike in both halves are attractive, while a Tottenham win to nil is 4.1 if you're feeling bold. Spurs are an eye-watering 6.6 to go through.

Spurs boss Antonio Conte will be hoping his team can overturn a 2-0 deficit in front of their own fans

Reds and Gunners Embark On First Leg

Liverpool last reached the EFL Cup final in 2016 when they lost on penalties to City and they had to twice come from two goals down against Leicester to book their semi spot thanks to an added-time leveller from Takumi Minamino.

Given they host Brentford in the Premier League in the 2pm kick-off on Sunday, the Reds will be looking to be more efficient against the Gunners while building a first-leg lead.

They are at 2.14 to win and at 3.8 to win to nil.

Arsenal were dumped out of the cup by Championship side Nottingham Forest following an insipid display at the City Ground: it was their second straight defeat after a run of five wins.

They are at 3 to win at Anfield with a draw at 3.65 and a draw with both teams to score is at 4.2.

Recommended Bets:

Tottenham to score in both halves @ 3.55

Liverpool to win to nil @3.8