Still known to many simply as the League Cup, the EFL Cup as it is now marketed is one of two major domestic football cup competitions in England along with the FA Cup.
Read on for your guide to English League Cup Betting
Often dominated by Premier League teams, the EFL Cup can be entered by any club playing league football. This means any team participating in the Premier League, Championship, League One or League Two, a total of 92 clubs entering every year.
Held as the Football League Cup for the first time in 1960-61, this trophy has plenty of history and despite some years in the doldrums when Premier League teams repeatedly played younger and fringe players, it has taken on extra significance again in recent times.
Because 92 teams are involved, the format is important to keep track of as not every team enters at the first-round stage.
English League Cup Betting Format
Round 1 – August
The first 70 teams enter in Round 1 in August, playing 35 one-off games which need to be decided on the night with no replays permitted in the competition. Two top teams from the Championship are given a bye here, as are all Premier League teams.
Round 2 – August
At the end of the month, Round 2 takes place featuring the 35 winners from the first round and 15 more teams who were given byes, including most of the Premier League teams minus those involved in European competitions. Another 25 games are played at this stage in the same way as before.
Round 3 – August
Round 3 is the last-32, with the European challengers now entering and joining our 25 winners from the last round. Once more the format is the same and games take place at the end of September.
Round 4 – August
Round 4 happens at the end of October and gets us down to eight teams, playing one-off quarter-final matches in mid-December before the format changes a little.
Traditionally, the EFL Cup semi-finals are played over two legs home and away in January. Once the finalists are known, they face off at Wembley Stadium on the last Sunday in February or first Sunday in March for the right to win the cup.
European Qualification
The winners of the EFL Cup gain qualification to the following season’s UEFA Europa League unless of course they already qualify for this or the Champions League via their Premier League position.
The runner-up in the EFL Cup cannot qualify for Europe, meaning that if the winner has already qualified their position goes to the sixth-placed team in the Premier League (or 7th if the same thing happens in the FA Cup).
The League Cup’s Biggest Teams
Up to 2020s final, the city of Manchester has won the EFL Cup in 4 of the last 6 seasons and indeed 9 of the last 15 – Man United with four of those wins and Man City the other five.
Other teams to have won the EFL Cup this side of the Millennium include Chelsea, Swansea City, Liverpool and Tottenham as Premier League teams understandably dominate.
English League Cup Betting Markets
Despite the presence of Championship teams from the beginning and Premier League teams from Round 2, the early stages are risky to bet on as many bigger clubs field younger players and immediately become bad value from a betting point of view.
From the last-16 onwards though things are different and these games bring about an average of well above 3 goals per game which helps us. Likewise, and much unlike league games, home wins and away wins are just as frequent as each other at near 40%.
With that in mind, stick with these markets:
- Away Wins – bookmakers will invariably still price up games similarly to a league game with the home sides favourite most of the time. Away wins are high at nearly 40% though, so anything above 6/4 is actually good value in this competition and in fact, you’ll find plenty of 2/1, 9/4, 5/2 and even bigger on offer in this market.
- Total Goals – ignore home favourites and don’t even bother with Both Teams to Score – simply bet on over 2.5 or in some cases over 3.5 in games that look close on the books and you can build some healthy profit here, especially in the last-16 or quarter-finals.
Wager on the EFL Cup with Roger.com Now!
Now you know more about this exciting non-league trophy competition, you can place wagers with renewed confidence. To get the most out of your bets and play safely and securely, get on via any of Roger.com’s recommended online bookmakers.
