England's first piece of major silverware will be handed out at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The EFL Cup has been a long and grueling road for some of the top teams in England, and this all comes down to Manchester United and Southampton for a coveted title and a guaranteed spot in the Europa League next season.
At 11:30 a.m. ET, tune into beIN Sports for live television coverage of this EFL Cup match on Sunday, February 26, 2017, at Wembley Stadium.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Manchester United -127
Southampton +405
Draw +251
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
Manchester United has the bigger name here, thus you just flat out know that it's going to be the big favorite to hoist the EFL Cup. The Red Devils, in fact, are -230 favorites to win said Cup, but they're only -127 to get the job done in regulation.
Part of the problem with trying to pick an SU winner in 90 minutes in this one is because the total is so low. In a regular Premier League match, the total would be closer to 3 if these two got it on. Here in the EFL Cup Final where nerves will probably be a tad higher, and the match will be managed a little differently, we've got a total that is bordering closer to a flat 2 than anything else.
Key Injuries
Wayne Rooney didn't play against St. Etienne in the Europa League on Thursday thanks to a minor muscle issue, and the common thought is that Jose Mourinho made that decision to make sure the veteran could be in his lineup for Sunday's EFL Cup Final. There's a question as well if Timothy Fosu-Mensah will be available, knowing that he has a minor knock to deal with, too.
Southampton has its share of longer term injuries. Virgil van Dijk, Matt Targett, Jeremy Pied, Alex McCarthy, and Charlie Auston are all out for a while at this point, while Sofiane Boufal likely won't play until March thanks to an ankle injury.
How They Got Here
The EFL Cup was never really important to Manchester United, as Mourinho generally used some younger squads in this tournament, particularly in its early stages. Still, the Red Devils have taken care of business, a testament to their depth for sure. They knocked off Northampton Town 3-1 on the road and followed that up with a much more important 1-0 win over cup holder, Manchester City in the fourth round. West Ham fell easily in the quarterfinals, and though Hull City put a fright into the Red Devils in the second leg of the semis, they still prevailed 3-2 on aggregate after the 120 minutes.
Southampton has had a much more difficult route to the final than Man U. The Saints, who have played this Cup a lot more seriously than some of the other big boy teams, dismissed Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Arsenal and Liverpool to get into the finale. The semifinal was supposed to be a drag for sure against a Liverpool side that had gotten back into respectable form at the time. Instead, the Saints picked up a pair of 1-0 victories, the second of which was in the middle of a disastrous week for the Reds that saw them out of two Cups.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Shane Long and Nathan Redmond have really had great Cup runs here for the Saints, and we wonder if they're going to be able to get the job done here in this one. We're going to pick them to beat the Red Devils inside of the 90, especially since Man U is playing on Thursday in the Europa League, a problem that Soton just flat out doesn't have. Would we be shocked if this one went the other way? We certainly wouldn't. But given all of the circumstances and the fact that Southampton is still one of the middling teams in England, at least getting that half goal over 90 minutes feels like a great idea.
EFL Cup Odds: Southampton 2, Manchester United 1
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