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2011-08-23 - Bury vs Leicester City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Carling Cup
Tuesday 23 August 2011 - Kickoff 7:45pm
Bury
Bury won promotion from League Two last season and have made a decent start to life at a higher level. Richie Barker continued the good work started by Alan Knill and ensure the club gained promotion after they had been close the previous two seasons.
The financial issues at the club mean they have not been able to strengthen the squad in terms of numbers over the Summer and they do have a few injuries to contend with. That has not stopped the side so far as Bury are 6th in the table after picking up 7 points from a possible 12. They are 1-0-1 at Gigg Lane, scoring 2 goals and conceding 3.
Bury have already beaten one Championship side this season when they took care of Coventry City 3-1 in the 1st Round. They have won their last 2 games, including a big home win over Sheffield Wednesday, although they were well beaten by Carlisle United.
Andrai Jones will come into the side in place of Mark Hughes who is suffering with tightness in his hamstring. Mark Cullen, on loan from Hull City, is back to full fitness and could come into the side.
Leicester City
Sven Goran-Eriksson has not had the best week as his side, the Championship favourites at the beginning of the season, picked up just 1 point from 3 League games. They should have had more at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, but a late goal cost them 2 points and there may be a little bit of pressure building on the manager who has spent a lot of money in the Summer.
The Foxes are down in 14th place in the table having gained 4 points from a possible 12 in the League. They could be suffering from a similar predicament as West Ham United whereby the expectation in home games is costing them the ability to play to full capacity. It is telling that they have lost both home games, but are 1-1-0 away from home, scoring 3 goals and conceding 2.
Leicester have also beaten Rotherham away from home in the 1st Round of the Carling Cup to back up the fact they are playing with a little more freedom away from home. It was only a 90th minute goal on Saturday that has prevented Leicester winning all 3 of their away games this season.
Kasper Schmeichel is suspended after he was needlessly sent off at the City Ground. Chris Weale will start in goal while Jeffrey Schlup could be brought into the side following his hat-trick in the 1st Round win at Rotherham. David Nugent and Darius Vassell are doubts and may be rested.
Head to Head
The last time these two met was in this competition in August 2005. On that occasion, Leicester won here 0-3.
Prediction
The Carling Cup is a tough competition to pick through as teams play sides that are weakened and that makes it a tough minefield to negotiate.
However, I think Leicester are looking for a confidence boosting win and have proven they are quite happy playing away from home already this season. Sven Goran-Eriksson played a strong team in the 1st Round in an away game at a lower League side, so I don't expect him to change policy at a time when a win could restore the team's belief.
Bury are a good team, but the squad is limited and they could find it tough playing against a team full of the quality that Leicester have. This is only the 2nd time in the last 8 seasons that they have gone beyond the 1st Round and they had been beaten by teams in higher divisions the last 5 times they had played them at Gigg Lane before beating Coventry.
I would not go overboard with stakes as you can never really tell what a manager is thinking when handing in their teamsheets in this competition, but I fancy an away win here.
The Pick :
Bury 1-3 Leicester City
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Leicester City @ 1.92 (Various)
