MAGIC OF THE CUP

The first round of this season’s Capital One Cup continued where last year’s tournament left off. Drama, shocks and controversy were found at every turn – and we can expect more of the same next week, when the big boys of the Premier League enter the fray.

Three weeks ago, ahead of the opening round of the 2013-14 Capital One Cup,we picked out a selection of the headline ties. Near the top of that particular list was a return to the competition, after a quarter of a century away, for Newport County.

“A glamour tie away against Championship big dogs Brighton should serve as a very special reminder to their fans that Newport are very much back in business,” we wrote – but that was only the half of it. In a dramatic night on the south coast, the Exiles came from a goal behind to snatch a late equaliser, before going on to win 3-1 in extra time against a Brighton side reduced to 10 men. An absolute treat for the fans who had made the long trip across from south Wales, and another sensational result in a competition that continues to shock and amaze in equal measure.

A look through the rest of the first-round results merely serves to prove the point. Newport’s huge win came on the same night that Morecambe and Accrington dumped out Wolves and Middlesbrough respectively, and only 24 hours after Preston saw off Blackpool in a feisty local encounter that had Seasiders manager Paul Ince spitting feathers.

So what of the second round, which takes place across next Tuesday and Wednesday? The arrival on the scene of the majority of the Premier League clubs offers yet more opportunity for upsets. Newport’s reward for putting out Brighton is a trip to one of those Premier League clubs, as they face West Brom at the Hawthorns on Tuesday evening. The following night, Accrington host top-flight new boys Cardiff (themselves the subject of a giantkilling at Northampton last season), while Morecambe host Newcastle in the live Sky game.

There are yet more local derbies for fans to get their teeth into, with Preston travelling to Burnley and Doncaster playing host to Leeds. Perhaps the most interesting tie of the round, however, is the live game on Tuesday evening. Liverpool, their failure to qualify for Europe leading to a rare secondround entry into the Capital One Cup, face a visit from the oldest football club in the world, Notts County. The eight-time winners may have lifted the cup as recently as 2012, but they are not immune to falling prey to the so-called underdogs. They were beaten at home by eventual winners Swansea only last season, while in 2010 future England manager Roy Hodgson could only stand and weep as the Reds went out on penalties to Northampton.

Liverpool will start as massive favourites, of course, but this is the Capital One Cup... and if we have learned only one thing from this competition in the past 12 months, it’s that anything really can happen.

Tuesday august 27

Barnsley v Southampton 1 : 5

Bristol City v Crystal Palace 2 : 1

Burnley v Preston 2 : 0

Burton v Fulham 1 : 1

Carlisle v Leicester 2 : 5

Derby v Brentford 5 : 0

Doncaster v Leeds 1 : 3

Huddersfield v Charlton 3 : 2

Leyton Orient v Hull 0 : 1

Liverpool v Notts County 4 : 2

Norwich v Bury 6 : 3

Peterborough v Reading 6 : 0

QPR v Swindon 0 : 2

Sunderland v MK Dons 4 : 2

Tranmere v Bolton 2 : 1

West Ham v Cheltenham 2 : 1

Yeovil v Birmingham 3 : 4

West Brom v Newport 3 : 0

Wednesday august 28

Accrington v Cardiff

Aston Villa v Rotherham

Everton v Stevenage

Morecambe v Newcastle

Nottm Forest v Millwall

Stoke v Walsall

Watford v Bournemouth

http://www.ukbettips.co.uk/images/stiri_lume/august-2013/capital_one_cup.jpg via ukbettips.co.uk http://www.ukbettips.co.uk/football-betting-news/5085-magic-of-the-cup.html