There’s a tasty tie in Tuesday’s second round of the Carabao Cup with Birmingham City v Fulham on the telly at 8pm. Our tipster, Shane O’Brien, is taking the reins here, looking to progress to the next round for us at Paddy Power News.
He’s expecting an exciting match, with the League One side causing problems for the Premier League club. Let’s look at the definitive verdict as the League Cup continues.
Birmingham v Fulham betting tips
Fulham to win
Both teams to score
Raul Jimenez to score
Over 7.5 Fulham corners
WHEN: TuesdayAugust 26 – 8pm
WHERE: St Andrews Stadium, Birmingham
TV: Sky Sports Football
Fulham to win
Fulham’s last two League Cup runs have been wildly contrasting, bowing out against Crawley at the first hurdle in the 2022/23 season before reaching the semi-finals last season and pushing eventual champions Liverpool close over two legs.
It is always difficult to tell how much priority Premier League clubs will give the League Cup, which can be an unnecessary distraction for teams fighting for Europe or against relegation.
Fulham, who seem to have no real hopes of fighting for Europe this season and in no particular danger of going down, appear to be ideally situated to give the League Cup another go this season.
Marco Silva’s side have started the season relatively well, losing narrowly at Old Trafford before claiming their first win against newly-promoted Leicester on Saturday.
On the other hand, Birmingham have started reasonably well in their quest to win instant promotion back to the Championship, collecting seven points from their opening three games of the season.
It might be the League One side that deems the League Cup an unnecessary distraction as they vie for promotion from England’s third tier.
Fulham won at St. Andrew’s at this stage of the competition three years ago, and it would not be surprising if they repeated the feat on Tuesday night.
Both teams to score
Fulham have failed to keep a clean sheet in either of their two Premier League games. They conceded several excellent chances in their 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season and a sloppy equaliser in their 2-1 win over Leicester at Craven Cottage.
It is early days, but those defensive deficiencies will indeed concern Marco Silva.
Silva will likely rotate his squad for Tuesday night’s trip to Birmingham and will probably field a relatively inexperienced back four.
Birmingham scored eight goals in four games in all competitions this season, which will make life difficult for Fulham on Tuesday.
Silva’s side may need to score at least twice to progress to the third round.
Raul Jimenez to score
If Silva rotates his squad on Tuesday night, Raul Jimenez will surely get an opportunity from the start.
The Mexican forward has appeared as a second-half substitute in Fulham’s two league games to date and will be itching to get 90 minutes under his belt sooner rather than later.
Jimenez has not looked like the force he once was ever since suffering a horrific head injury at Arsenal in the 2020/21 season. Still, he did record a respectable return of seven league goals last season, his best return since suffering the injury.
Jimenez also played a prominent role in Fulham’s run to the League Cup semi-finals last season and can make an impact at St. Andrew’s.
Over 7.5 Fulham Corners
Fulham have registered a fair number of corners in their opening two games of the season, winning eight at Old Trafford and a further seven against Leicester over the weekend.
They have tried to get forward at every opportunity, averaging 14 shots per game this season and four on target.
Logic dictates that they will at least match those averages against lower-league opposition in a game where they should dominate both territory and possession.
Birmingham have conceded an average of around five corners per game in League One this season, so it stands to reason that that average may rise against Premier League opposition.
Fulham to win
Both teams to score
Raul Jimenez to score
Over 7.5 Fulham corners
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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