Football betting tips: Carabao Cup
1pt Wataru Endo to be carded at 5/1 (William Hill)
1pt Trey Nyoni to be carded at 6/1 (bet365)
1pt Archie Gray to be carded at 9/2 (Sky Bet)
0.25pt Endo, Nyoni and Gray to be carded at 110/1 (bet365)
It's early in the season, but this game feels like a big one for both Liverpool and Tottenham - even if it's only the Carabao Cup.
The Reds are still finding their feet under Andoni Iraola but are expected to beat a Spurs team yet to score against a top-flight opponent this season. The fact Liverpool are highly unlikely to win the league does make cup competitions even more important for Iraola, though.
As for Spurs, well, they just need any sort of momentum they can get after a shocking start to the season. They need a goal against a Premier League team, something they can point to and say 'look we are making progress'.
It is somewhat surprising to see Liverpool priced at 4/5 to win this game, with the market giving Spurs plenty of respect - respect their displays haven't deserved.
The Reds were 1/2 at home to both Nottingham Forest and Fulham in the Premier League, and I think Tottenham are a fair bit worse than the former and not much better than the latter. The price can only be a result of the fact that personnel changes are expected and Liverpool's squad isn't very deep.
We may in fact see Wataru Endo play at centre-back, with a couple of youngsters thrown in for good measure. Reports out of Tottenham are that we should expect a near-full-strength XI which does at least make the prices make a little more sense.
The fact that ENDO could be playing in defence means we have to chance him TO BE CARDED at 5/1. Joe Gomez is back in training and could come in from the start alongside Ronald Araujo, but given his injury history I'd expect him to be eased back into things, meaning Endo gets the nod.
The Japanese midfielder has been a bit-part player over the last few years, playing just 437 minutes across all competitions last season. He did pick up one booking in that time and it was the same the season before, playing very few minutes.
But, if you go back to Jurgen Klopp's final season at Anfield, Endo played plenty. In the Premier League alone he racked up over 1700 of them and was booked 10 times, he added a further card in the Carabao Cup too and one more in Europe.
Now, thrown in to plug a gap in a position he's not totally comfortable with, against a first choice Tottenham attack, he looks ripe for a card and looks overpriced to boot.
The referee here is Andy Madley and he's started the season well from a cards perspective. Across all competitions he's brandished 23 in five outings (4.6 per game) and could be a busy man on Tuesday between two sides desperate for a result.
TREY NYONI is another of the Liverpool contingent who I like TO BE CARDED, and he's priced at 6/1. The youngster isn't the most prolific of card collectors, picking up just six in his short career so far, but he will be tasked with containing Spurs' £200m+ midfield that is full of foul winners.
So far this season Spurs have drawn a card from an opposing midfielder in every game they have played, so at the prices we'll take a swing on Nyoni, who will be the deepest of the Reds' midfielders and the last line of defence on the counter attack.
The final card dart is going to be at ARCHIE GRAY, who is 9/2 TO BE CARDED and is set to be another, like Endo, who will be playing out of position. Gray is set to line up at right-back which will put him head-to-head with Liverpool's tricky young winger Rio Ngumoha.
Ngumoha has proven to be a handful whenever on the pitch, and so far this season has drawn four fouls in just 160 minutes of action (2.25 per 90). Gray is yet to be carded but collected eight last season.
These are two managers whose DNA is to play attacking, transitional football, meaning this game could get very stretched at stages, especially as it's a cup game, so hopefully that helps the cards flow. In true Jimmy the Punt style, we have to cover the CARD TREBLE at 110/1.
Odds correct at 15:15 BST (14/9/26)
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