What a great opportunity for silverware for one of these clubs. Either Newcastle or Brentford will be in the Carabao Cup semi-finals and three games from glory.

The pair played only a few weeks ago in the league at Brentford, a game the Bees won 4-2, but Brentford are a real Jekyll and Hyde team, dominating at home but floundering away, meaning Newcastle will be fancying their chances here.

Given this is a quarter final of a domestic cup competition, we should expect full-strength XIs here, especially with both sides mid-table in the Premier League, so a good, highly competitive game can be expected.

What are the best bets?

With regular starting XIs expected, you simply have to back ALEXANDER ISAK TO SCORE ANYTIME at odds-against.

CLICK HERE to back Alexander Isak to score anytime with Sky Bet

The Swede is on fire right now, scoring in seven of his last eight starts for Eddie Howe's side, including against Brentford in their recent league meetings.

He's hit a real purple patch, and with Brentford struggling immensely away from home, he should get plenty of opportunity to strike.

For context on the Bees away issues, the only side they have beaten on their travels this season has been League Two Colchester. In six away games against last season's top eight - a category which Newcastle fit - they have lost all six, conceded 14 times and allowed 2.33 xGA per game.

Across those six games they have shipped a whopping 128 shots - 21.3 per game - so again, Isak should get ample chances to find the net.

That stat had me initially wanting to back Newcastle shot lines, but then I remembered that this is a cup game. Game state will dictate far more here than a regular league game. Should the Magpies go in front, it's unlikely they'll go for two, three or four as readily as they would a league game.

So, instead, I'm looking at a player card bet because Anthony Gordon is featuring and he has been unplayable at times of late.

Whether Brentford play a back four or a back three, it looks likely that SEPP VAN DEN BERG will play on the right of the defence, and his price of 3/1 TO BE CARDED makes great appeal.

CLICK HERE to back Sepp van den Berg to be carded with Sky Bet

He has only been booked once this season, but that came against Newcastle, and occurred only seven minutes after Gordon entered the fray as a substitute.

Sepp van den Berg could be in for a tough evening

The English winger has been fouled an average of 2.79 times per 90 this term, while Newcastle have seen 10 opposing full backs carded in 16 league games this season.

Some of that is down to Gordon, but also Harvey Barnes, who could well play left-wing here at some point in the night. He's averaging a lower 1.37 fouls per 90, but has directly gotten four players booked this season.

Van den Berg could be in for a tough night on Wednesday.

Team news

Newcastle will be missing number one goalkeeper Nick Pope through injury, meaning Martin Dubravka will again play between the sticks. Eddie Howe will also be without the injured Sven Botman, Emil Krafth, Jamaal Lascelles and Callum Wilson.

Sean Longstaff is also out due to suspension having been booked in both previous rounds. We could well see an unchanged XI from the 4-0 thrashing of Leicester at the weekend.

As for Brentford, they could again set up in back three, and could also be unchanged from the weekend's defeat to Chelsea.

Kevin Schade could be brought in should Thomas Frank switch to a back four, or we could see summer signing Thiago given the nod up top should the Bees opt for a 4-3-3.

Predicted line-ups

Newcastle: Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

Brentford: Flekken; van den Berg, Pinnock, Collins; Roerslev, Yarmoliuk, Norgaard, Damsgaard, Lewis-Potter; Mbeumo, Wissa.

Odds correct at 1630 GMT (16/12/24)

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