African Nations Cup absentees should see Chelsea and Spurs through to Carling Cup showdown

Carling Cup / Nik Wardle / 21 December 2007 / Leave a Comment

"Knowledgeable" Nik Wardle tells us who he's betting on to progress in the Carling Cup semi-finals

The Carling Cup has reached the semi-final stage and the draw keeps the two favourites apart. But with the forthcoming African Nations Cup and injuries likely to affect the selection of all four teams, picking the overall winner of the cup isn't straightforward.

Holders Chelsea are the favourites, as they have been since the outset, at 2.56. Avram Grant will be keen to get his first trophy under his belt and is likely to field as strong a team as possible against Everton. African Nations Cup duty will certainly rob him of Drogba, Essien and Mikel for the second leg and possibly for the first, depending when their countries ask for their release. Also, skipper John Terry isn't due to return to action until after the second leg. Drogba, Essien and Terry are three of Chelsea's key players and their side will be severely weakened without them.

You'd think this would give Everton as good a chance as they'll get of defeating Chelsea. The Toffees, who are at 5.8, are not without selection problems of their own, though. Yakubu and Yobo are likely to be called up by Nigeria - and these are two of Everton's key players.

Yakubu, in particular, has been in fine goal scoring form of late and whoever replaces him out of Anichebe (assuming he stays home), Johnson or Vaughan will have to produce their top form to give Everton any chance of winning. South African Pienaar will also be absent and he and Arteta have been influential of late in providing Everton with danger down the flanks. Midfielder Osman may also miss either one or both legs and Everton may struggle to plug the gaps in their team selection.

You could predict Arsenal (3.85) and Tottenham (5.5) would be drawn together. Six times in the last sixteen years have both the North London sides been in the same cup semi final draws and this is the fifth time they've been paired together - that certainly beats the odds.

Last season, Arsenal defeated Spurs over two legs but it could've been a different story had Berbatov not limped off in the first leg. At that stage, Spurs were two up and cruising. His absence gave Arsenal more impetus and they took control of the tie from there. Last year, Fabregas was the key player over the two legs but if, as is likely, Wenger continues not to pick him or any other senior players, this could well swing the balance towards improving Spurs. They will lose Zokora to African Nations Cup duties but Ledley King should be back by then and he's as important to Spurs as Terry is to Chelsea.

Despite the absence of key senior players, I think Chelsea will have enough strength in their squad to overcome Everton. The January transfer window may see any of the four semi-finalists strengthening their squads but Chelsea, above all, have more pulling power in this area. Recent victories at Portsmouth and Man City point to Spurs having more resolve and they'll need this to overcome Arsenal's kids. Ramos has a great record in cups and I've a hunch Spurs will overcome their great rivals for once. For me, this leads to a repeat of the 1967 FA Cup final and I'm sticking with my initial prediction of the Blues retaining their trophy.