Carling Cup: Games to Watch in Round Three

The Carling Cup is back in action for the Premier League's top teams and there are many fixtures to be excited about. The "second" cup of England doesn't raise too many headlines but the matches don't disappoint too often. 

Many EPL clubs use the League Cup as friendly matches of sort where substitute and fringe players can feature. This can make these games very interesting as players try to convince their managers that they should be part of the first team. 

Here's a list of five Carling Cups that shouldn't be missed this week: 

5. Aston Villa vs. Bolton Wanderers (September 20)

Aston Villa and Bolton haven't had the best of starts to the new season and will try to improve morale with a win in the cup.

Villa may be in seventh in the league at the moment but won't be too happy with all their performances. Bolton, on the other hand, will feel that they've played better than their current position of 19th suggests.

Both sides have already played one round of Carling Cup matches, fixtures in which they gave playing time to lots of substitutes. I would expect the same in this game as both teams will want to rest their starters. I still feel that this match will be exciting and have a good amount of goals.   

4. Stoke City vs. Tottenham Hotspur (September 20)

The long journey to Ukraine for Thursday's Europa League match was certainly felt by Stoke City on Sunday. The Potters were battered 4-0 by a Sunderland side that has struggled a lot this season. 

Tottenham Hotspur had a very different game in which they beat Liverpool 4-0 to reassert themselves as top four contenders. Spurs were superb and looked like a different team from the one that has disappointed during the start of the season. 

Stoke and Tottenham will have their eyes on resting most key players but won't want an early exit at the same time. Spurs may choose to field a team resembling the one that drew at PAOK last Thursday while Stoke have new signings who could be fielded. 

No matter what the line-ups end up being, this should be an interesting contest. 

3. Leeds United vs. Manchester United (September 20)

Leeds have had some hard tests in the English cups over recent years. They've faced Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham but people will mainly recall Leeds' FA Cup win at Old Trafford two years back.

Manchester United face the Whites once again and won't want another upset. However, like most top EPL teams, the priority is usually to rest most starters.

It's not so clear nowadays who exactly is considered a starter in Alex Ferguson's eyes, but the likes of Giggs, Lindegaard, Owen, and Fabio are expected to feature.

Out of all the Carling Cup Round 3 games, the Leeds-Manchester United fixture is the match-to-watch. 

2. Manchester City vs. Birmingham City (September 21)

Manchester City lost their 100 percent record over the weekend and will want to get back to winning ways against Birmingham City. Birmingham had an even poorer weekend with a 4-1 loss to Southampton, which came after a Europa League 3-1 home loss to Sporting Braga three days earlier. 

Manchester City have a massive squad and know that they can risk benching all their starters for this game. There are a bunch of great players for the Citizens who have had very little playing time this season.

Expect Carlos Tevez, Adam Johnson, Nedum Onuoha, and maybe Owen Hargreves to make an appearance on Wednesday.

Birmingham will probably do the same thing as their opponents regarding line-up but don't have the same squad flexibility. Manager Chris Hughton will certainly rest the players who have featured more than once in the past five days. 

1. Chelsea vs. Fulham (September 21)

Chelsea haven't taken the Carling cup too seriously in past years, including their third-round exit last year. I wouldn't expect Andre Villas-Boas to also take the cup as a bunch of friendly games but it's not likely that he'll field many starters.

Players like Lukaku, Kalou, Bertrand, Alex, and Turnbull will most likely feature and try to convince their manager that they should be considered for a starting spot.

For Fulham, a great draw against Manchester City will boost morale. However, I don't expect too many of the players that featured on Sunday to start at Stamford Bridge.

The Cottagers have had a very busy schedule in recent weeks and Martin Jol will most likely opt to rest his starting players.

Other Matches to Watch

September 20: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Milwall

September 20: Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle United

September 20: Arsenal vs. Shrewsbury Town

September 20: Blackburn Rovers vs. Leyton Orient

September 21: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Liverpool

September 21: Everton vs. West Bromwich