Hull City v Newcastle United Betting Tips

One of Tuesday’s EFL Cup clashes sees Premier League strugglers Hull City take on North East rivals and Championship high-flyers Newcastle United.

Hull had a brilliant win over Southampton a few weeks ago but then failed to top it off in a vital match against relegation rivals Sunderland which essentially puts them back to where they started before that match against Southampton prior to the international break.

Mike Phelan’s side did manage a creditable draw at home to West Bromwich Albion at the weekend but their top flight survival still hangs very much in the balance.

The League Cup has been a different animal for The Tigers as they have won all three of their matches in the competition so far – and all of them in normal time. This may be because Phelan has kept a pretty much full-strength team for what he would consider a minor competition. The former Manchester United assistant manager knows that winning is a good habit and so if they win in the League Cup, then they are more likely to win in the league.

Newcastle are top of the Championship and it will be a huge shock if they do not win the title this year. Having said that, not even a side with the budget off Newcastle are invincible in the Championship and their home loss against struggling Blackburn Rovers at the weekend just showed how unpredictable the league can be.

Although their main desire is promotion, Rafael Benitez’s team can probably look at taking the League Cup quite seriously – given the fact that there is almost a 100% chance that they will make the top two.

The Toon had an excellent result in the last round by beating fellow second tier side Preston North End by a 6-0 scoreline. Just like Tuesday’s opponents Hull, Newcastle have not rested players for this competition and so clearly they are setting their sights on Wembley this year.

However, this will be Newcastle’s first away League Cup tie in just under two years and so it will be interesting to see how they cope with the contrast. In terms of form it should not be a problem as the Black and White Army are currently on a four-match winning streak away from St. James’s Park and have not lost on the road since the opening day at Fulham.

In fact, we could see an atmosphere that is rather partisan towards Newcastle as I doubt there will be many Hull City fans at the KCOM Stadium on Tuesday night.

Despite the fact that Newcastle are a division below Hull, the Toon Army are favourites for this match given their recent form.

Personally I feel that it is quite hard to make these kind of predictions in the League Cup as you just do not know what team will turn up. Whilst I expect both sides to be quite strong, their attitude may not be at 100% which could cost them.

I think the goals market is probably the best to look at here. Hull City are dreadful at the back – conceding the most Premier League goals this season – whilst Newcastle are excellent going forward – scoring the most goals in the Championship this season.

With this in mind, ‘Over 2.5 Goals’, at 21/20, looks a good bet. As I say, the League Cup is hard to predict so Newcastle may not score as many goals as predicted against this ragged Hull back-line. However, Hull are also fancied to cause Newcastle problems and this bet allows the result to flip either way and even a narrow 2-1 victory for either side will see you go home in profit.

See more EFL Cup tips here.