League Two’s Barrow AFC await the arrival of Premier League side Aston Villa at Holker Street in the second round of the English Football League Cup on Tuesday night.
Barrow’s EFL Cup first-round game against Scunthorpe was also a home fixture – a match where the stats were much in favour of the home side who won the game 1-0 thanks to a 50th-minute goal from 20-year-old American striker Dimitri Sea.
The Bluebirds have also had a fairly decent start to their League Two campaign as far as they’re concerned, with a 3-2 win against Hartlepool United, a 0-0 draw against Exeter City and a 2-1 loss to Harrogate Town, leaving them just below mid-table in sixteenth place.
Aston Villa enter the English Football League Cup competition at this stage and will be pleased to be facing a team three leagues below them to get their cup run off to – what should be – a comfortable start.
In terms of their Premier League campaign, the Claret and Blue Army have had an average start to the season. They began with a 3-2 loss to newly-promoted Watford, which could have been much worse given the 3-0 scoreline heading into the 70th-minute, before comfortably beating Newcastle United 2-0 at Villa Park.
Head to head, owing to these two sides’ respective league levels throughout history, Barrow and Villa have yet to face each other, giving either team the chance to reign undefeated against their opponent following this fixture on Tuesday evening.
Odds For Barrow AFC v Aston Villa
Aston Villa, the Premier League giants of this fixture, are of course the favourites to beat their League Two counterparts Barrow AFC, with current prices for a Villa win sat at around 9/20.
Alternatively, if you think Barrow can hold off Aston Villa in the 90 minutes and get themselves a draw they’ll remember, you can currently get odds of around 4/1 for a draw.
Or, if you think there will be a giant-killing in this game and an upset from Barrow – a side that currently plays in the fourth tier of English football – you can currently get odds of around 13/2.
Think there will be plenty of goals in this fixture? It may be worth a punt on the under/over goals market. If you think one of these teams will win in 90 minutes but both teams will score, here are the current prices for the ‘match result and both teams to score’ market:
Thinking a bit further ahead? This competition is well known for unlikely teams going on a decent cup run, with the top teams not particularly taking much interest until the round of 16. Top clubs often claim their priorities must lie with the Premier League, European competitions and the F.A Cup, which grants its winner Europa League qualification.
Therefore, you can get some great prices on some outsiders to win the EFL Cup. Here are the current odds for the outright winner:
Barrow AFC v Aston Villa Teams
Barrow have conducted their business very well during this transfer window, bringing in nine new players without spending a penny on transfer fees. Eight of these nine were free transfers, while one, centre-back Festus Arthur from Hull City, was a loan transfer.
Barrow boss Mark Cooper did however release seven players, lose another to retirement, and have another five move on to other clubs on free transfers as well.
As things stand, Beadling and Jones may not be in Barrow’s side against Aston Villa on Tuesday due to injury, with Platt also questionable.
Aston Villa did things very differently to Barrow this summer but had a transfer budget that allowed them to do so. Having sold sought-after Jack Grealish to Manchester City to a fee of just over £100 million, Villa boss Dean Smith did not hesitate in spending the money on bolstering his squad back up.
Summer arrivals include right-winger Emiliano Buendia from Norwich City for a fee of around £35 million, centre-forward Danny Ings from Southampton for a fee of around £32 million and left-winger Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen for just short of another £30 million.
Aston Villa will likely field a reserve team against Barrow to rest their first team for their next Premier League match against Brentford, so it will be difficult to tell exactly who’s missing through injury and who’s simply being given the day off. This is what makes the match odds a little closer than one would originally anticipate.
Betting Tips For Barrow AFC v Aston Villa
The early rounds of domestic cup competitions make for some exciting betting scenarios. We all want the underdogs to do well, unless they’re facing our own teams, of course, so adding the chance of making some money from an upset makes for an adrenaline-inducing occasion.
If you want to bet on something more than just the match result, but you’re not sure exactly where to go with your bet slip, trust our team of professional football betting tipsters to take the reins on your decision-making process. This will give you the absolute best chance of making some big profits on matches like Barrow v Aston Villa this season.
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Where To Bet On Barrow AFC v Aston Villa
All of the betting sites we feature will offer betting markets on Barrow v Aston Villa in the English Football League Cup second round. So, be sure not to just stick with your usual betting site for the sake of knowing your surroundings when you could be making more money elsewhere.
Barrow AFC v Aston Villa is scheduled to kick off at 19:45 on Tuesday the 24th of August 2021.
