English Other
2012-08-28 - Norwich City vs Scunthorpe United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Capital One Cup Second Round
Tuesday 28 August 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Norwich City
Chris Hughton has had a tough introduction to his tenure as manager of Norwich City, although he must have been a lot more pleased with the performance in the 1-1 home draw with Queens Park Rangers last weekend. They were unfortunate to not pick up the full points in that game as they created enough chances to do so, but this could represent a good chance to get a first win for Hughton.
The draw against QPR followed the 5-0 opening day loss at Fulham, but the performances were night and day. Norwich will also look for some redemption from a 0-4 home loss to the MK Dons here at Carrow Road last season as they fell at this stage of the League Cup for the third time in a row.
Norwich have now won just 1 of their last 5 games at home, while they have been beaten at Carrow Road in 2 of their last 3 League Cup appearances. However, outside of that defeat last season to the MK Dons, the Canaries have a decent record against sides in lower Divisions than themselves in this competition.
Chris Hughton is likely to make some changes to his team, although he still has plenty of injuries to deal with and so could have a more familiar feeling line up than usual.
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United may have progressed in the Capital One Cup this season, but they have struggled in their opening games in League One and were thumped at home at the weekend. It will be interesting as to what importance they put into this Cup game or whether they see it as a good financial boost to the club with little expectation to move further in the competition.
The side were beaten 0-4 at home by Yeovil and that means they have lost all three games they have played in the League so far. Scunthorpe provided one of the big shocks in the first round of this competition as they beat Derby County on a penalty shoot out, but it was the manner of that win that really caught the eye. The team were 3-0 down, 4-1 down and 5-3 down yet managed to draw 5-5 in that game, but they have struggled to find that character since.
Crawley Town thumped Scunthorpe 3-0 in their only other away game this season and they have now won just 1 of their last 9 away games in all competitions, although only being defeated 2 times in that run of games.
Scunthorpe are expected to make a number of changes to their side after the 0-4 home loss over the weekend.
Head to Head
Norwich City and Scunthorpe last met in the 2010/11 season when both were playing in the Championship and the Canaries won 6-0 at Carrow Road in that season.
Scunthorpe have only won 1 of their 6 previous meetings at Norwich.
Prediction
The League Cup is a competition known for the surprise results, but I do like Norwich City to get some joy out of a game against Scunthorpe United who have been conceding a lot of goals so far this season.
The expectation is Norwich are going to play a strong line up in a bid to get some momentum in the early part of the season, while Scunthorpe are more likely to have an unfamiliar feel with changes being made after the thumping they took at home over the weekend.
Scunthorpe will also need to be careful they don't fall into a hole like they did at Pride Park against Derby County in the first round as I wouldn't fancy their chances to get back into the game if they do.
The home side should be too good if they play as they did on Saturday and are a little more ruthless in front of goal and I will take them to cover the Asian Handicap.
The Pick :
Norwich City 3-0 Scunthorpe United
