Aston Villa and Birmingham braced for Second City Capital One Cup clash
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Bitter rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham City have not met since 2010/11, due to being in different divisions, so this Second City derby in the Capital One Cup third round promises to be one to watch.
The Villans are the odds-on 10/11 favourites with Coral to win in 90 minutes, but it was in fact the Blues (10/3) that triumphed last time out that same season 2-1 in the League Cup. They have odds of 11/1 for victory by that scoreline again.
That match, though, was played St Andrew’s and when both teams were in the Premier League, and Villa goalscorer that day, clubman Gabriel Agbonlahor, will be hoping to add to his tally of four in this fixture.
Former England forward Agbonlahor is 7/4 to strike anytime, but has has netted last in three head-to-heads with Birmingham before, so is 6/1 to do so once more.
He will also have the chance to go into fourth place on his own in the list of Second City scorers (currently eighth equal), and is 9/1 to bag a brace at Villa Park.
One man that won’t be able to feature in his first Birmingham battle is ex-Barcelona wonderkid Adama Traore, who has not yet recovered since injuring himself in this competition against Notts County.
That means summer signings Rudy Gestede and Jordan Ayew will be the main men up front to help their side get over their weekend home loss to another West Midlands side West Bromwich Albion. They are both 6/5 shouts in the anytime market.
For the Blues, meanwhile, Clayton Donaldson has been their key player this season to date, dispatching three times already to help his team up to seventh in the Championship with a game in hand. The Yorkshireman is 2/1 to net anytime here again.
Other enticing shouts in the same market include exciting attacking youngsters Demarai Gray and Jon Toral, who are priced at 10/3 and 5/1 respectively.
Coral’s betting tip: Agbonlahor loves scoring last in this fixture, and is 6/1 to do so once more in 90 mins
