EFL Trophy

One of our favourite tournaments this, with plenty of opportunity to get a bit of an angle if you're willing to put in the research to make an informed opinion on the likely line-ups, and we have seven matches to get stuck into on Tuesday evening.

We'll start up at Oldham, where the Latics take on the Leicester U21s, and despite the turmoil that the hosts appear to be in after losing four of their first teamers last week, they are surely be underrated at 13/5 to beat Leicester in this one. We've more than covered the record of Football League sides against the Premier League Youth sides in previous previews, so won't go down that route in too much detail, but suffice to say, a League One side with home advantage really shouldn't be this sort of price regardless of who they are.

Leicester also picked up just four points in the group stage, so must be fortunate to be here, and that was in a group which also included Morecambe and Carlisle, neither of whom have huge depth in their squads for this sort of competition. It's worth also noting that of the guest squads from Premier League 2, nine of the 16 finished bottom of their groups, and a further three finished 3rd, meaning just 4 qualified for the knock out stages. And their record against League One clubs? Three wins in 27 this season by the way..... currently 13/5, but we'd be more than happy with anything above 2/1

5pts Oldham to beat Leicester U21s at 13/5 (Coral)

It's a copy and paste job for the Portsmouth v Chelsea U21 match, although Plymouth are a higher quality side and have taken this competition fairly seriously this season, naming strong teams in every round.

Chelsea finished runners-up in Group D behind Yeovil, winning once, and drawing their other two before penalty defeats in each. That win against Exeter proved vital in the end. Portsmouth eased through Group A with 7 pts to top the group and they are rightly favourites in this one, but probably not strong enough favourites in our eyes. There is lots of 5/4 about, and we'd have them odds on in this at the very worst.

2pt Portsmouth to beat Chelsea U21 at 5/4

Despite backing Charlton over the weekend, there are still a few injury problems kicking around there, and we reckon Oxford could be worth throwing a dart at in that tie.

Karl Robinson has treated this competition as an unwelcome distraction and his teams have hardly been full of first team regulars each week. The likes of Karlan Alearne-Grant, Joe Aribo, Aaron Barnes, Anernee Dijksteel, Jamie Mascoli and Dillon Phillips have all been given a run out - in fact, those six have started 22 in this, but only 12 in the league.....

Josep Ruiz has taken an alternative view and clearly sees this as a Wembley opportunity, with first team regulars such as Simon Eastwood, James Henry, Jack Payne and Josh Ruffles all getting plenty of game time. Expect another strong XI to be named and that would make the 5/2 with Bet365 look very attractive.

2pts Oxford to beat Charlton at 5/2

#Football