Saddlers ready to leather weakened holders Coventry

Group stage matchday two
Kick-offs from 7pm Tuesday

Walsall v Coventry
Mark Robins has declared that defending the EFL Trophy is not a priority this season, so don't expect much of a show from a weakened Coventry side at Walsall.

Robins has said he'll make as many changes as possible for the trip to the Banks's Stadium, where Walsall won their opening group game against West Brom's academy side.

Coventry were beaten 3-2 at home by Shrewsbury and as well as the many changes Robins will voluntarily make, top scorer Duckens Nazon – who has bagged four in his last five – has flown off to play for Haiti.

Recommendation
Walsall
2pts 5-4 general

Carlisle v Leicester U21
A quartet of Leicester's academy squad – Daniel Iversen, Darnell Johnson, Alex Pascanu and George Thomas – were given international call-ups before their opening Group A encounter and the weakened Foxes crashed to a 4-0 loss at Fleetwood.

The same four are away again which leaves Steve Beaglehole's resources thin on the ground as they head that bit further up the M6 to Carlisle.

Carlisle won their opening tussle at Morecambe and can make it two out of two.

Recommendation
Carlisle
2pts 17-20 Ladbrokes

Cambridge v Southampton U21
Southampton fielded an Under-21 side at Peterborough in their first game and lost 2-0, although the club's technical director Martin Hunter regarded it as an "invaluable experience".

Hunter added then that the kids will go again for their second outing, at Cambridge's Glass Ground this evening, and the feeling is that another defeat is in the offing.

The kids at Staplewood are a promising bunch, but Cambridge's gnarled pros may well have too much for them.

Recommendation
Cambridge
2pts 11-10 general

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter@racingpostsport

Like us on FacebookRacingPostSport