Watford/Tottenham, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1, Free Bets

Brother-in-law meets brother-in-law tonight at Vicarage Road, as handsome former West Ham management duo Harry Redknapp and Frank Lampard Snr find themselves on opposite sides of the dugout. Last season’s Carling Cup winners Tottenham are the favourites, but Watford have already taken one Premier League side out of the competition this season.

The chaps at chickendinner believe there may just be an upset tonight…

PREMIER LEAGUE 0 CHAMPIONSHIP 2
The first two Carling Cup quarter-finals saw Championship sides Burnley and Derby overcome Arsenal and Stoke. With Blackburn and Manchester United facing off in the other last eight clash there is definitely going to be one Premier League representative in the final four, but will Watford win to replicate last season’s FA Cup, where three of the four semi-finalists were from the second tier?

QUARTER-FINAL RECORDS
Since 2002, Watford have won all three quarter-finals that they have participated in. Even more significantly, those campaigns - FA Cup 2002-03, Carling Cup 2004-05, FA Cup 2006-07 - have been on a two-year rotation system, meaning that they are due to reach the Carling Cup semi-finals in 2008-09. In comparison, Tottenham have lost six of their eight over that time, including two in the Carling Cup. In 2004-05 Harry Redknapp took Portsmouth to the quarter-finals where they were beaten 3-0 away to Watford, although he had resigned six days prior to the fixture.

A GLIMMER OF HOPE
There are even more stats that point towards an upset, such as the fact Watford have lost just two of their last eight home games or that only two of the last ten winners have made the semi-finals the following season. However, there is one good omen for Tottenham even though only two of the last ten winners have made the semi-finals the following season. At least one of the North London clubs have made the final four in each of the last three seasons, and five of the last seven.

POSSIBILITY OF EXTRA TIME
Tottenham’s last two trips to Vicarage Road have ended level (1-1 and 0-0) as have three of the last four meaning that there is a strong possibility of the game finishing as a draw, which is 4.1 on Betfair. Paddy Power offer 17/1 for Watford to win in extra-time while Bet365 offer 14/1 on them winning on penalties. Watford have already beaten Darlington after extra-time in this year’s tournament while Spurs have lost their last four penalty shootouts, the last three of which were in quarter-finals!

A SHARED NIGHTMARE
Harry Redknapp has never previously reached the final four of the Carling Cup but thought he had in 1999-00. That season West Ham beat Aston Villa on penalties in the quarter-finals but were forced to replay the game after it emerged that substitute Manny Omoyinmi, who was brought on for the final seven minutes of extra-time, had already played in the competition for Gillingham earlier in the season and was therefore ineligible. West Ham lost the replay. However, if that nightmare indicates that Redknapp is cursed in the Carling Cup then the same must be true of Frank Lampard Snr, who was his assistant at the time.

DID YOU KNOW?
This is Watford’s third straight Carling Cup match under a different manager. They beat West Ham in the third round under Adrian Boothroyd then Malky Mackay led them to victory over Swansea in the fourth round. Brendan Rodgers will tonight make it three out of three.

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