Fleetwood vs Arsenal: Carabao Cup betting tips & best odds

• Arsenal (-2.5) on Asian handicap – 4/5 Sky Bet
• Merino anytime scorer – 9/5 Ladbrokes, Coral
• Mosquera 1+ shot – 11/10 Paddy Power

Arsenal playing at Highbury – whatever next?

Yes, the Premier League champions head to Fleetwood Town’s stadium of a familiar name on Tuesday looking to avoid an upset in the Carabao Cup.

The hosts are struggling in League Two, sitting 18th having lost five of their last seven league matches, as they prepare for one of the biggest games in their history.

Victory would certainly be their most memorable result, although football betting sites offer odds as big as 22/1 about that happening in 90 minutes.

Such is modern football that we can’t even be sure they won’t be holding some of their players back for Saturday’s clash with Bristol Rovers.

What we can say is that Arsenal will certainly be resting some their stars before they head to nearby Liverpool on Sunday, a big game in the title race.

Among those expected to come in here are Mikel Merino and Cristhian Mosquera – both are ‘due minutes’ having played little so far this season.

Martin Zubimendi and young starlet Max Dowman also fall into that category, while Kepa Arrizabalaga looks sure to start in goal.

William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Christos Tzolis are out injured.

Fleetwood vs Arsenal prediction 1: Arsenal (-2.5) to win on the handicap

Even an Arsenal reserve side should have too much quality for a team in the bottom half of League Two – you don’t need me to tell you about the squad depth Mikel Arteta has at his disposal these days.

In the search for value while backing Arsenal in some shape or form, it’s worth looking at how they’ve performed against lower-league opposition in the recent past.

Since Arteta took the reins in December 2019, the Gunners have won 11 of their 13 such matches, the two losses both coming against Championship sides.

They’ve won by 3+ goals in eight of the 13 with the likes of Wimbledon, Oxford and Wigan all walloped.

This looks the best approach here with Arsenal available at 4/5 to cover the -2.5 handicap.

Tip: Arsenal (-2.5) to win on the handicap – 4/5 Sky Bet

Fleetwood vs Arsenal prediction 2: Mikel Merino anytime scorer

Mikel Merino seems a likely starter and probably in an attacking role.

We all saw how his runs into the box could cause damage at the World Cup in the summer and one suspects Fleetwood will struggle to track him down regularly.

Merino has only had four Arsenal starts this season but he scored when in the XI against Ipswich in the previous round of this competition.

And during the recent international window, he netted three times for Spain.

The Spaniard looks more than capable of netting against limited opposition like this and 9/5 seems a reasonable price on betting sites.

Tip: Mikel Merino anytime scorer – 9/5 Ladbrokes, Coral

Fleetwood vs Arsenal prediction 3: Cristhian Mosquera 1+ shot

Cristhian Mosquera has missed quite a large chunk of the season so far due to injury but he’s been fit for a few weeks now, usually occupying a seat on the bench.

This looks a good opportunity to give Gabriel and Ezri Konsa a rest, especially with William Saliba currently out injured, so expect Mosquera to play.

If he does, he’ll likely be a target on set-pieces and betting apps going odds-against about the Spanish defender having any shot looks risky business.

Mosquera landed this bet in games against Mansfield and Wigan in the domestic cups last season and can repeat the trick here.

Tip: Cristhian Mosquera 1+ shot – 11/10 Paddy Power

Fleetwood vs Arsenal predicted line-ups

Fleetwood: Lynch; Rooney, Bennett, Potter; Cirino, McLean, Neal, Helm, Andrew; Coughlan, Evans

Arsenal: Arrizabalaga; White, Mosquera, Salmon, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly; Dowman, Merino, Eze; Gyokeres

EFL Cup outright odds

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