Back Odds Now's 11/1 Carabao Cup acca

Just as one weekend of football comes to an end, we're back again for another mid-week accumulator, this time focusing on Tuesday's fixtures in the Carabao Cup. 

While the big boys of the Premier League are yet to enter the draw, the majority of sides from English football's top-flight make their first appearance in the competition's second round across tonight and Wednesday. 

I've enjoyed a mixed bag of form in my early-season predictions so far. A successful treble in the Champions League play-offs saw a perfect start but my momentum somewhat stalled with a stuttering European football accumulator at the weekend. 

Nevertheless, I'm back with you again with an attempt to make it two out of three for 2024-25 as I pick out a few of tonight's fixtures to keep an eye on. 

Brad's best bets for Tuesday, 27 August, 2024

Selection #1 - Middlesbrough to beat Stoke City (7/10)

Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough side hit the ground running early in the season. A 1-0 home win over Swansea on the opening weekend of the Championship was followed by a rampant 3-0 victory at Leeds in the previous round of this competition. 

In reality, Boro could have hit five or six past their Yorkshire counterparts, ending the match with a whopping 17 shots to their name. 

Form has dipped since for Carrick's men, though. A 1-0 defeat at Derby County followed a surprising 2-2 draw with newly-promoted Portsmouth at the Riverside on Saturday. The home side were minutes away from a second consecutive defeat before a stoppage time penalty from Tommy Conway saw them salvage a point in the dying seconds.

Stoke have hardly been in stellar form themselves, mind. Like Middlesbrough, Steven Schumacher's side got off to a winning start with a 1-0 win at home to Coventry before following it up with a 2-0 ousting of Carlisle United in the Carabao. 

Two defeats have since followed, though. Watford hit three past them en route to securing three points at Vicarage Road before midland rivals West Brom left the bet365 Stadium with a 2-1 win at the weekend.  

Both of these teams will be eager not only to secure a spot in the next round but also stem the rot left by consecutive defeats in the second tier. While the visitors will take hope from their two outings against Boro last season - both of which ended in victory - I'm going to back Carrick's side to progress in this one. 

Middlesbrough are unbeaten in seven of their last eight home outings in all competitions and will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways against a leaky Stoke defence here.

Stoke got off to a winning start against Coventry in the Championship but have lost both of their subsequent league outings since. (Photo credit: Alamy Images)

Selection #2 - Fulham to beat Birmingham City (11/17)

The easiest (at least on paper) to predict of my four selections takes place at St Andrew's, where in-form Birmingham City play host to Premier League outfit Fulham. 

Birmingham, who are now in League One following their relegation from the Championship last season, are unbeaten in their four matches in 2024-25. They've also won their last three on the bounce, scoring six times in the process.

However, in an attempt to sound too cringey, there are indeed levels to this game. And Marco Silva's Fulham side will surely be levels above their west midlands counterparts here. 

The Cottagers also come into the game having secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Leicester City on Saturday. They were also minutes away from securing a well-earned point at Old Trafford on the opening night of the Premier League, only for a late Joshua Zirkzee strike to secure all three points for Manchester United in the final moments. 

Don't get me wrong, I can't fault what Birmingham have done so far. They are firm favourites to win League One and look a solid bet based on what we've seen this season, but expecting victory over Silva's men would be biting off more than they can chew at this stage. 

Alex Iwobi nets the winner in Fulham's 2-1 victory over Leicester on Saturday. (Photo credit: Alamy Images)

Selection #3 - Millwall to beat Leyton Orient (7/10)

Millwall might not have got the results they wanted so far in 2024-25 but they've given a solid account of themselves. A hard-fought 3-2 home defeat to Watford has aged well given the success Tom Cleverley's side have enjoyed since and they were unfortunate not to get at least a point from their frenetic 4-3 loss at Bristol City just over a week ago. A 1-0 victory at Portsmouth has been further complimented by a point at the MKM Stadium last time out. 

The same cannot be said for Leyton Orient. Their 4-1 home victory over Newport in the previous round of this competition remains the only win they've picked up during this campaign. Richie Wellens' men are also yet to register a clean sheet this term. 

The early stages of the domestic cups are always capable of stringing up surprises. Lower division sides conjuring victories against teams in higher leagues is far from out of the ordinary, but based on what I've seen from these two so far, backing the Millwall win seems the obvious pick. 

Selection #4 - QPR to beat Luton Town (15/8)

Our second selection sees a meeting between former Premier League sides in QPR and Luton Town. Neither side have set the world alight early in the campaign, amassing a combined three points between them across their first three matches in the Championship.  

Clean sheets have been particularly hard to come by for QPR, who have conceded in every match they've played in all competitions so far. Luton's 0-0 draw at Portsmouth - in which goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski was sent off after half an hour - remains the only time they've managed to keep an opponent out in 2024-25, suggesting more goals lie in wait at Loftus Road. 

This is a tough one to call, as reflected in the betting odds where both sides come in at odds-against at the time of writing. I am going to cautiously edge in favour of Marti Cifuentes' QPR side, though. 

Luton's recent away record is atrocious - yes, I know, a large bulk of that came from their time in the Premier League last season. Still, losing can become a habit and I'm unsure the Hatters will have the belief that they can go to Loftus Road and get the win.

Meanwhile, it was QPR's home form which saw them finish six points above the relegation zone in a season where they looked as though they could get dragged into the bottom three. They've picked up four wins in their last 10 on home turf, losing just three times in that timeframe. 

With all that said, I'm going to back the Hoops to come out on top in an entertaining encounter which features two sides seemingly incapable of keeping the ball out of their own net.