Sports Blog 20/09/2017: EFL Cup Preview – Manchester United vs Burton, Wednesday 20th September 2017

Are Burton Albion in for a battering when they travel to Old Trafford for their EFL Cup tie against Manchester United?

Man United have been in monstrous form so far this season. Like their City counterparts, they have 13 points from 5 league games, with 14 scored and just 2 conceded. Super Cup loss to Real Madrid aside, the only blemish has been a 2-2 draw against Stoke, with their fantastic start also including an easy breezy 3-0 victory over FC Basel in the Champions League.



Crucial to this run has been Romelu Lukaku, who is proving every bit worth his eye-watering price tag. The Belgian international has 7 goals in 7 games in all competitions, and is the joint top scorer in the Premier League, his 5 goals only matched by Sergio Aguero.

Whether he’ll make an appearance on Wednesday night is another question entirely, as Mourinho seeks to rotate his squad ahead of Saturday’s trip to Southampton. If he does pop up, however, Burton should be worried – he goes into the game at a hefty Super Mega PGM of 106-126, trailed by Anthony Martial at 80-95 and Marcus Rashford at 80-92.

As for the Championship side, they’re currently displaying form only a tad better than that which left then just one point above the relegation zone last season. Admittedly they didn’t have the easiest start; they lost 1-0 to Cardiff (who are in 3rd, on the same 17 points as Leeds and Wolves above them) before suffering 4-1 and 2-0 defeats to Premier League rejects Hull and Middlesbrough respectively.

Things have improved since that opening trio of losses, but not by much. Sandwiched between 2-1 wins over Birmingham and Fulham were flaccid draws against Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich, and, worst of all, a woeful 5-0 hammering at the hands of Leeds.

They’ve been (marginally) better in the Carabao Cup. While it took an 86th minute penalty to see them beat League One’s Oldham 3-2 in the 1st round, they did manage to get revenge on Cardiff in the 2nd round, with goals from Tom Naylor and Ben Fox sealing a 2-1 win.

Albion haven’t quite faced anything as tough as even a 2nd string United side this season, and will do well to escape Old Trafford with their dignity intact. Spreadex are offering a Manchester United/Burton Goal Supremacy spread of 3.05-3.25 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.85-4.05.