West Ham v Birmingham Carling Cup betting tip with Betfair odds

Preview of West Ham v Birmingham Carling Cup match with betting tip and odds from Betfair exchange.

According to my instinct I will back West Ham at around 2.2 odds on the to qualify market as it gives you insurance if they only get a draw but I don't trust them away from home to defend a 1-st leg lead, never mind win the match if necessary. I do trust them to win at home in this competition though and at 2.2 they look a fair price.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

I'm not going to go as far as calling it a betting rick but the price on O/U is simply wrong. Both sides have produced 3 over 2.5 goals matches out of their 4 fixtures in this competition so far. If this were a EPL match I'm sure all the stats would back up the fact that "unders" should be favourite but it's not, it's a Cup game. And if we don't trust statistics and patterns of stats to an extent, then what do we trust?

Of course, if one of the sides takes an early lead and decides that 1-0 is good enough, then so be it. But every bet has that sort of element of risk to it and given I'd chalked up "overs" in my mind at around 1.8, I couldn't look at myself in the mirror tomorrow if I didn't take the 2.26 on the over 2.5 goals barrier being broken.

So, smartest bet on this match will be to Back over 2.5 goals at 2.26 in West Ham v Birmingham match