Carabao Cup free betting tips: Everton v Man Utd; Stoke v Tottenham | Best bets and preview

Football betting tips: Wednesday's Carabao Cup quarter-finals

2pts Tottenham to win and under 3.5 goals at 8/5

1pt Tottenham to win and under 2.5 goals at 15/4

1pt Carlos Vinicius to score first at 19/5

1pt BTTS and over 3.5 goals in Everton v Man Utd at 7/4

1pt Man Utd to beat Everton and BTTS at 14/5

0.5pt e.w. Gylfi Sigurdsson to score first at 14/1 (e.w. terms - first 99 places at 1/3 odds)

For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record

Everton v Manchester United betting tips

• 20:00 GMT on Sky Sports Main Event
• Match odds: Home 23/10 | Draw 13/5 | Away 11/10

Both Everton and Manchester United have hit back superbly from a run of poor results. Three straight defeats has been followed by 13 points from a possible 18 for the Toffees and they now sit fourth in the Premier League table.

Remarkably, a United side whose season seems to have lurched from crisis to crisis are above them on goal difference and have a game in hand. Win that, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men will be just two points behind leaders Liverpool.

Now the focus shifts to the Carabao Cup though, and securing a place in the last four. For the neutral this feels like a contest that could be really entertaining as both teams have built their success on attacking rather than defending.

Everton have improved at the latter in recent weeks, being breached only once in three games since Carlo Ancelotti decided the best way to overcome a lack of fit full-backs was by solely selecting centre-halves in a narrow back four.

Even so, the prospect of a packed festive programme means that the well-drilled defence of Mason Holgate, Michael Keane, Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey will in all likelihood be broken up as the Toffees boss makes a few changes to his starting XI.

That's enough to nudge me towards backing the both teams to score and over 3.5 goals combination at 7/4, as prior to their recent defensive revival Everton had failed to keep a league clean sheet since the opening weekend.

Now they face a Manchester United team with a voracious appetite for goals no matter who is selected.

Eight of United's last 10 fixtures have seen BTTS and over 3.5 goals, including when these sides met in the Premier League on November 7 and Solskjaer's team came from behind to win 3-1.

As much as I like Everton, and I do, I simply cannot see past United's away form since lockdown - 14 wins, one draw and two defeats. I'm expecting a very similar outcome to November's fixture at Goodison, so am happy to back an away win with BTTS at 14/5.

I won't spend an age on the explainer with this one, but a price that leapt out to me immediately when looking at the goalscorer markets was Gylfi Sigurdsson to score first at 14/1 - to me that is huge.

Enough has been said about the sheer volume of penalties that have been awarded this term, and given that the Icelander will be on spot-kick duty should he get the nod on Wednesday night it's a crazy price.

The value increases when accounting for the fact that he takes direct free-kicks from around the box, and when you consider that Manchester United have conceded first in eight of their last 10 away matches.

Score prediction: Everton 1-3 Manchester United (Sky Bet odds: 14/1)

Everton v Manchester United: Best bets

BTTS and over 3.5 goals at 7/4

Manchester United to win and BTTS at 14/5

Gylfi Sigurdsson to score first e.w at 14/1

Stoke v Tottenham betting tips

• 17:30 GMT on Sky Sports Main Event
• Match odds: Home 19/4 | Draw 10/3 | Away 8/15

Wednesday's trip to the Potteries offers Tottenham the opportunity to get back on track after a bad 10 days in the Premier League.

Just as Spurs fans were beginning to get excited at the prospect of a run at a first league title since 1961, their side conceded late goals to draw at Crystal Palace and then lose to Liverpool, before being comfortably beaten at home by Leicester.

Tottenham supporters will have to lower their ambitions, at least for now, and focus on lifting a first trophy of any kind since 2008 - winning trophies, after all, is what Jose Mourinho prides himself on.

He has consistently targeted the Carabao Cup down the years, winning it four times during his spells as manager of Chelsea and Manchester United, and in both of his maiden seasons at each club.

Stoke are having a decent season in the Sky Bet Championship under former Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill, and sit seventh in the table having lost just once in seven games.

They really haven't set the world alight though, only winning by more than the odd goal on two occasions.

It's that lack of goalscoring threat that has me leaning strongly towards the heavily odds-on visitors for this one, and I'm backing Mourinho's side to keep out a team who have found the net only four times in their past seven matches.

The backbone of their success then, as you might have guessed, is a watertight defence - they have kept six clean sheets during that run of fixtures.

Tottenham to win and under 2.5 goals at 15/4 dwarfs the 2/1 on offer for an away win to nil. I'm happy to take the former, and to also lay down a slightly bigger stake and add on an extra goal - 8/5 for Spurs/under 3.5 goals still represents value.

Mourinho will not be playing a severely under-strength team, but even if he does ring the changes Spurs have excellent squad depth. The starting XI for their final Europa League group game against Royal Antwerp included nine full internationals, one of which was Gareth Bale.

It would be a surprise if the on-loan Real Madrid star did not start against Stoke, a team he scored one of his most famous Tottenham goals against back in 2012, as he searches for match sharpness. Right now Bale is a long way from displacing Steven Bergwijn as first-choice right-winger.

A loanee who is beginning to get up to speed though is Carlos Vinicius. The Brazilian, who made the temporary switch from Benfica in the summer, is unlikely to ever be more than a back-up centre-forward, but he has netted three times in his past two appearances.

Both times Vinicius broke the deadlock, something he is 19/5 to do on Wednesday evening.

Bale (5/1) and Lucas Moura (17/2), another likely starter, are decent options too but for me, Vinicius offers the best value.

Score prediction: Stoke 0-2 Tottenham (Sky Bet odds: 15/2)

Stoke v Tottenham: Best bets

2pts Tottenham to win and under 3.5 goals at 8/5

1pt Tottenham to win and under 2.5 goals at 15/4

1pt Carlos Vinicius to score first at 19/5

Odds correct at 1620 GMT (21/12/20)

Follow Sporting Life on social - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLifeFC

Related football content

• Antepost Angle: FA Cup
• Premier League: Talking Points
• 'A desperately worrying pattern'
• Sporting Life App: Android & iOS

Responsible gambling

We are committed in our support of responsible gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, or visit begambleaware.org.

Further support and information can be found at GamCare and gamblingtherapy.org.