Thursday Football Tips: Expect goals in EFL Cup tie

• History for goals in this fixture

• No EFL Cup tie this week has seen over 3.5 cards

• We have a three-legged 5/2 Bet Builder recommendation

Manchester City v Liverpool

Trying to guess the line-ups in an EFL Cup tie has been wrought with problems over the years.

This time around we've also got the World Cup thrown into the mix and so several top names will miss out here.

Julian Alvarez is still partying in Argentina after playing a key role in their World Cup success, while the hosts are also expected to be without their England and Portugal stars - think Foden, Stones, Grealish, Walker, Cancelo and Silva.

At least Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne are set to start - as they did in the weekend friendly against Girona when both scored. Ilkay Gundogan is another in the mix but City still look pretty short at 20/23.

As for Liverpool, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino weren't in Qatar so will feature but Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konte won't, while Jordan Henderson is set to be afforded a rest too.

In short, it's really tough to know who's going to start this game, one hardly at the top of either side's priority list. Having lost ground to Arsenal in the Premier League title race, City will have eyes firmly on Wednesday's trip to Leeds, while Liverpool's poor start to the season means they need to focus on getting back into the top four. They face Aston Villa away on Boxing Day.

What I do feel is that big changes to the regular line-ups - which is what we are pretty much guaranteed to see - will result in an open game.

Defensively both sides will have rejigged and while some star attackers will be absent, there will still be more than enough forward talent to take advantage of any uncertainty.

Even if you don't subscribe to that theory, goals tend to flow in this fixture. The last six have seen goal make-ups of 1-4-5-4-4-5.

I'll happily put over 2.5 goals down into the Bet Builder.

Cards seem less likely.

This almost certainly won't be as intense as the game at Anfield back in October and the EFL Cup is well known for seeing a lower card count than the Premier League.

We've also got a good referee for the unders with David Coote being the most lenient in the Premier League this season in card terms. He's shown just 16 in seven games, at an average of 2.29.

He will be more than aware that this is the first competitive game back after a lengthy break and I'd expect him to go easy on anything rash unless it's a real problem.

Under 3.5 cards here looks a solid play. Interestingly this has landed in all seven EFL Cup ties already played this week.

Finally, I'm going to mention one player who has caught the eye this season.

City midfielder Rodri might not play after Spain's run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup but if he does then back him for 1+ shot.

He's hit multiple shots in seven games already this season for City, while the 1+ shot has landed in 15 of his 19 club starts.

Put the three legs together to get a Bet Builder price of around 5/2 - and remember if Rodri is only on the bench you can easily cashout the treble and re-place the bet as a double.

Read Dan Fitch's in-depth preview of Man City v Liverpool