Arsenal welcome Sunderland in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night and Tom Carnduff has found value in a home goalscorer.
Football betting tips: Carabao Cup
1pt Nuno Tavares to score anytime at 10/1 (General)
With uncertainty surrounding the Premier League over the Christmas period, the Carabao Cup looks as if it will be continuing as scheduled and Arsenal have a great chance of reaching the semi-final stage as they meet Sky Bet League One side Sunderland.
This used to be a regular top-flight fixture but the Black Cats have been struggling to get themselves out of League One. The run in the Carabao Cup - alongside their league position - shows the enjoyable campaign they are having so far though.
Arsenal are a Premier League outfit with a strong home record though and the fact that Sunderland come into this one on the back of a run of just one away win in five - that coming against Cambridge - further demonstrates why the hosts are a tiny 1/6 for victory in 90 minutes.
Kick-off time: 19:45 GMT, Tuesday
TV channel: Sky Sports Football
Arsenal 1/6 | Draw 6/1 | Sunderland 14/1
The issue with betting on games such as this is that the majority of the markets are heavily favoured to the home side - as should be expected - meaning you're only getting short prices across the board.
The Gunners are 8/15 on the -1 handicap while 3+ goals for them is priced up at 5/6. It's expected to be a comfortable home win and the statistics are tough to argue against - it's a Premier League side with a strong record in front of their own supporters against one two divisions lower.
However, there is one price that has jumped out at me and that's the 10/1 on NUNO TAVARES TO SCORE ANYTIME in 90 minutes. He's likely to get the starting left-back spot as Mikel Arteta makes changes.
Tavares enjoyed a run of starts but Kieran Tierney has returned as the preferred player in that position. That should mean cup minutes for Tavares and he's shown he is a threat in attack when on the pitch.
Tavares made six starts in the Premier League and returned a total of 12 shots. What makes this more interesting is that 10 of those came in home contests against Aston Villa, Newcastle and Watford.
In the Carabao Cup, he started against AFC Wimbledon - a League One side - and posted a huge tally of four shots. While none were on target, he was denied a goal by the woodwork.
Tavares' senior career only has a handful of seasons but he did score for Benfica - alongside returning four assists - in 11 appearances during the 2019/20 campaign. He also had a one shot per game average - we should expect him to go well beyond that on Tuesday night.
With Arsenal such a short price for victory, the value can be found in backing TAVARES to strike.
Arsenal v Sunderland best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Nuno Tavares to score anytime at 10/1 (General)
Score prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Sunderland (Sky Bet odds: 6/1)
Odds correct at 1330 GMT (20/12/21)
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