Thursday 29 October 2015 15:28, UK
Charlie Nicholas has made his predictions for Wednesday's Capital One Cup matches, tipping tough tests for both Manchester clubs.
The Soccer Saturday pundit tipped up a 70/1 four-fold from last week's Champions League action but is going for a more reserved 14/1 fancy in his latest Sky Bet accumulator.
Liverpool v Bournemouth (live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm, or watch without a contract on NOW TV)
Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure Liverpool will be a stronger unit in time, but I think it's time that this Jurgen Klopp fantasy started to deliver. It's not a massive change of system and everyone is saying it's fantastic but I've never seen this sort of mentality when you haven't won a game.
Klopp has the backing of everybody and he does have a honeymoon period but he needs is a win to gather some sort of belief that what he is doing is getting through to these players.
There must be one guy in particular that must be frustrating the life out of him, his most talented player, Philippe Coutinho, but I think he is tailor made for a Klopp team and will come good.
For these reasons I think Klopp will go with another strong team to get his vision into action as soon as possible, and with Bournemouth leaking goals badly, I'm backing Liverpool.
Charlie predicts: 2-0 (7/1 with Sky Bet)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace
I think it's a good time for Palace to go there because there will be a lot of changes made by City.
Will Manuel Pellegrini be ballsy enough to play Vincent Kompany again? I'm not sure. Then up front they don't have many options and I think Kelechi Ihenacho will get another game, perhaps alongside Wilfried Bony.
Palace need to start picking up again as they've gone off the rails a with their problems up front. Have they got a striker who will guarantee them goals? The answer is no. Maybe Alan Pardew will bring in Connor Wickham to get him going.
Every game they have a go and I think they'll push City close but I can see Pellegrini's men coming through, with the lively little fella Iheanacho to impress again.
Charlie predicts: 2-1 (7/1 with Sky Bet)
Southampton v Aston Villa
The crazy thing is I think most players liked Tim Sherwood, particularly those in the team. Those players are now playing for their futures and most will be only interested in themselves and, whoever comes in, be it Remi Garde or whoever, they need to show that they have picked up their game and deserve to stay in the side.
However, unfortunately for them, I think Southampton will go with a strong side as Ronald Koeman is a man who takes the other competitions seriously and why not?
You can chop and change a couple but why rotate too much when you're in a real good position to maybe go on and make a cup final.
For that reason I'm expecting Southampton to go through and do so quite comfortably.
Charlie predicts: 3-0 (8/1 with Sky Bet)
Manchester United v Middlesbrough
What's Louis van Gaal going to do? Is he going to make a lot of changes? A lot of the guys that might have come in have gone out on loan. This could be the sort of night for the likes of Memphis Depay to come into the team and try to perform.
However, I can see this one being really tight. Middlesbrough are strong defensively and they've got enough pace to counter-attack you, but I can see United sneaking through.
Charlie predicts: 1-1 with Manchester United to win in extra-time (14/1 with Sky Bet)
