iBet: Aston Villa should probably not be odds on to beat anyone at the moment, even Bradford

Capital One Cup semi-final first leg

Bradford v Aston Villa, kick off 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1

Lay Aston Villa at 1.82 with Betfair

It’s hard to know what to expect from Aston Villa, who seem to be shocking in the league but are able to lift themselves in cup games, having already won at Manchester City and Norwich to get to this stage. Since that excellent win at Carrow Road they have conceded 18 goals, and their Premier League goal difference of minus 24 is the worst in the division. Bradford have been excellent in the competition this year, knocking out Wigan and Arsenal already. If they add Villa to the list, they will become the first fourth-tier team to knock out three Premier League teams in the same year. It’s interesting to note that Bradford have the best defence in League Two with only 11 conceded in 13 games. If we made a table based on home games alone, they would be third. It has to be admitted that Villa have had some serious injury problems to contend with and it could be significant that Darren Bent, Gabi Agbonlahor and Charles N’Zogbia may all be available for this. But on balance, Villa should probably not be odds on to beat anyone at the moment. And given that Bradford have only lost two of their last ten in 90 minutes in all competitions and that the away side would be happy to come away with a draw from what will be an extremely intimidating Valley Parade, a low risk strategy could be to lay the Premier League side.

Advices

Lazio are top of the eight-match form table in Italy and if they play a strong side for their cup game tonight against Catania, the 10/11 available for them to win in 90 minutes could be good value. Watch out for team news.

Betfair gives you better value. To see how much more you can win go to www.betfair.com/betchecker

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