Expect Manchester City to beat Arsenal

The stakes are different for Arsene Wenger and Mark Hughes ahead of tonight's League Cup tie; whereas Mark Hughes is fighting off the latest speculation about his tenure Wenger is progressing serenely through the season - even if some pundits are over-egging his difficulties. With a weakened strike force, Wenger would have to turn to his younger players anyway - but with his policy of youth in this tournament intact Arsenal could be very young tonight.

Manchester City, on the other hand, could well put out a very strong team in an effort to build confidence away from a faltering league campaign. It does seem somewhat bizarre that the team with the fewest defeats in the top flight should be having questions asked about its management - so Hughes can only rebuff the enquiries with victories.

I expect there to be a very expensively assembled and highly motivated Man City team for this one - and that should be enough to see off a talented but raw Arsenal line-up.

City start at 10/11 favourites, with the draw 13/5 and Arsenal 11/4 - but those odds may very well narrow if Arsenal's team is even less experienced than usual. And if selected Emmanuel Adebayor looks good value at 4/1 to score the first goal - although the celebration may be slightly more restrained than last time.

*All odds from Bet365, who are currently offering £200 in free bets for new accounts