5 Tips for Wednesday’s Football Action - 27/10/21

Leicester City host on Brighton & Hove Albion at the King Power Stadium in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night in what is expected to be a hard-fought game between ninth and fifth in the Premier League table.

Brendan Rodgers’ side come into this match having beaten Millwall 2-0 at the New Den last month, via a goal from summer signing Ademola Lookman and a strike from ex-Manchester City man, Kelechi Iheanacho. Meanwhile, Graham Potter’s side defeated Swansea City 2-0 at the Amex as the Republic of Ireland international Aaron Connolly scored a brace to effectively set up this tie.

The Foxes have found some good form of late, following important victories over Manchester United and Brentford via 4-2 and 2-1 scorelines, whilst Brighton’s hot streak at the start of the season seems to have somewhat cooled down following three draws in a row against Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Norwich, before being thumped 4-1 by Manchester City.

The last time these two sides met was as recent as mid-September, where the both teams to score market landed, as the Seagulls came out as winners, following goals by Danny Welbeck and Neal Maupay, with Jamie Vardy’s 61st minute equaliser being a mere consolation as Lookman and Harvey Barnes both saw goals harshly chalked off for offside.

Burnley take on Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor on Wednesday night in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.

The Clarets are yet to win in the Premier League this season following their 2-2 draw at Southampton on the weekend where summer signing Maxwel Cornet scored a brace. Burnley had to overcome Newcastle United at St James Park in round two via a penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw, before the Clarets were then paired with Rochdale at Turf Moor, where four second-half goals by Jay Rodriguez fired the Clarets into the fourth round having fallen behind in the 47th minute to a Jake Beesley goal.

Tottenham Hotspur come into this match under huge pressure having lost 1-0 away at West Ham United on Saturday to a Michail Antonio goal and come into this round having beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw despite taking a two-goal lead via Tanguy Ndombele and Harry Kane, before conceding to Leander Dendocker and Daniel Podence. So far, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have scored nine goals in nine Premier League games, suggesting that this could be a very close contest.

Borrusia Monchengladbach face Bayern Munich at Borussia Park in the DFB Pokal, a trophy which Bayern will be looking to do well in having suffered a shock loss to Bundesliga 2 outfit Holstein Kiel last season.

In the first round of the DFB Pokal, Bayern Munich thrashed fifth-tier outfit 12-0 away from home, as former Stoke City striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting scored four, whilst the likes of Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, Michael Cuisance, Bouna Sarr, Malik Tillman and Corentin Tolisso all scored.

Meanwhile, in Gladbach’s last DFB Pokal fixture, they beat FC Kaiserlautern 1-0 thanks to an 11th-minute strike from Lars Stindl. When these two sides last met in the league in early August, the match finished 1-1 at Borrusia Park, as Robert Lewandowski’s late first-half strike cancelled out Alesseane Plea’s 10th-minute goal. However, in Bayern’s current form which has seen them win seven of their opening nine league games, scoring 33 and conceding eight, you’d expect Julian Nagelsmann’s side to get the job done on this occasion.

Real Madrid host Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabeu in midweek, with Los Blancos knowing that they could go top of the table with a win.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side have won six of their opening nine league games, seeing them have 20 points on the board and the Italian manager’s side have even managed 24 league goals, which is seven more than second top scorers Rayo Vallecano.

Real come into this match on the back of a 2-1 win in El Classico thanks to goals by David Alaba and Lucas Vasquez so will undoubtedly be coming into this game in high confidence of getting a result, whilst Osasuna are sixth having won three of their last four matches in the league against Mallorca 3-2, Rayo Vallecano 1-0 and Villarreal 2-1.

The player to look out for in this tip is Karim Benzema who is the top scorer in La Liga so far this season, with nine goals and seven assists in nine appearances, seeing the Frenchman priced at 7/1 to score a header against Osasuna.

The final tip on this list comes from the Scottish Premiership where Hibernian go head to head with Celtic at Easter Road.

At present, Hibs are fifth in the league table, following three defeats in a row against Rangers 2-1, Dundee United 3-0 and 1-0 away at Aberdeen, seeing them slip eight points behind the pace set by Steven Gerrard’s Rangers.

Celtic look to be building in confidence following a slightly rocky start under Ange Postecoglou, as they have won their last four matches across all competitions having managed a 2-1 win away at Aberdeen, as well as three 2-0 victories versus Motherwell, Ferencvarosi and St Johnstone, with Giorgios Giakoumakis and Josip Juranovic scoring against the latter.