Manchester United Favoured to Win the 2010 Carling Cup

What a difference 48 hours can make to a competition.

In the space of two days the entire landscape of the Carling Cup has been shifted, with some of the favourites in the form of Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool already being knocked out.

Chelsea suffered a shock defeat to Newcastle at Stamford Bridge, which saw no less than 7 goals finding the back of the net. The Magpies prevailed 4-3 to send out the favourites, and set this competition alight.

In another shock defeat, Manchester City were knocked out by Premier league rivals West Brom on the back of a Simon Cox winner. One can imagine that the Arab consortium will very likely be calling in Mancini for a stern chat

Liverpool were taken down to the wire by lowly Northampton Town, in what was ultimately the most ignominious of all Carling Cup exits. Roy Hodgson will very likely be given his marching orders following this shock result, which saw the Reds knocked out in penalties, and with that the probable end to any chances of this team securing silverware this season. This season has been a nightmare for the Reds, and is about to get a lot worse following this loss.

With the loss of these Premier League giant comes an entirely different odds outlook on the tournament moving forward.

After their dominant display against Scunthorpe, Manchester United are slight favourites to now take the title. Bookmakers have begun posting Manchester United to win at 3.35- slightly liberal considering the skill gap evident between United and Scunthorpe.

Second in line are the ever-impressive Arsenal youngsters who are set at an enticing 3.6. After a dominant 4-1 win over North London rivals Spurs, the Gunners are a great bet.

Aston Villa did well in Gerard Houllier's first game in charge, winning 3-1 courtesy of a wonderspell by forward Ashley Young. The Villains find themselves fourth in line at a massive 10!

Newcastle showed serious skill by disposing of Chelsea away from home. This win would have done well to put some smiles on the faces of Geordies up north, and see the Magpies placed at a lucrative 12.0 to win the Cup- a bet some feel will be halved if they are to win their next clash

From there things start to get a bit crazy on the odds side, with both Stoke and West Ham locked in at 21.0, and Mick McCarthy’s Wolves at 38

This competition has been blown wide open by arguably the most exciting Third Round to date.

To assume that a handful of Premiership giants were to depart this early in the competition would have been madness, however this presents a rather unique and promising scenario for other clubs to finally be amongst the winners circle come February.