talkSPORT tips – Best football bets and expert advice for Tuesday 25 August

There is a feast of football coming up on Tuesday with three sides set to secure their places in the Champions League after their play-off second legs, while there is knockout action in the UK with FA Cup and FA Trophy action in England and the league stage of the Challenge Cup north of the border.

Our focus centres on the EFL Cup though with 17 second-round fixtures taking place, which includes one all-Premier League clash at the City Ground.

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Bet of the day

Millwall to beat Cambridge United @ 19/20

Millwall legend Neil Harris will hope the Cambridge United team he manages will be able to turn over his former club in the EFL Cup, but they have a massive task on their hands.

The Lions sit at the top of the Championship table after wins from their opening two matches against Bristol City and Norwich.

Cambridge have won one of their opening couple of encounters, but they were fortunate to claim those points against Wigan and could struggle to cope with the step up in class,

They now face a team with a strong chance of getting into the second-tier promotion race this season, who boasted the best away record in the Championship last term.

Bet builder 

Nottingham Forest vs Leeds: Under 3.5 goals, Dominic Calvert-Lewin to score and draw at half-time @ 17/2

Nottingham Forest’s home tie against Leeds is probably the most eye-catching of Tuesday’s EFL Cup matches, and it could prove to be an intriguing game at the City Ground just a few days after the pair met on the banks of the River Trent in their opening Premier League fixture.

A late free-kick from Anton Stach proved to be the only goal of the game and gave the Yorkshire side the points, and there looks a strong chance that the cup meeting will be equally cagey.

Six of Forest’s last seven home matches have featured fewer than three goals, so going under 3.5 looks a good place to start a Bet Builder selection for the match which will be shown live on ITV1.

Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is expected to lead the line and, after three shots in Saturday’s win. There looks a strong chance that he will be able to get onto the scoresheet, but it could prove a game that takes a little while to get going, so it would not be a huge surprise if honours were again even at the half-time whistle.

Acca 

Watford, Middlesbrough, Wolves and Brentford to win @ 6/1

Watford, Middlesbrough, Wolves and Brentford all look capable of coming through their EFL Cup ties within 90 minutes on Tuesday.

The Hornets have started the Championship campaign solidly with a win over fancied Southampton and a creditable draw at Wrexham, so they should be expected to get past Peterborough.

Boro should be in the promotion mix and they can bounce back from a loss to Blackburn by beating League One Doncaster, who were frustrated in Saturday’s goalless draw against Barnsley.

Sheffield Wednesday needed a penalty to beat Leyton Orient and lost at home to Bradford on Saturday. So they look vulnerable against a strong Wolves team, while Brentford, spurred on by their 3-0 victory in the Premier League opener against Tottenham, should see off Birmingham, who have had two draws in the second tier.

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Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change.

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