With United now left with no game following Chester City's expulsion from the Football Conference, we've turned our attention to the weekend's Carling Cup final clash between Aston Villa and Manchester United.

The Red Devils were victorious at Wembley in last season's Carling Cup final, and they can be backed at 4/9 with bet365 to retain the trophy on Sunday (kick off 3.00pm).

With their Champions League fixtures spaced nicely apart, Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to send out a strong team and a better bet might be on them to win the tie in 90 minutes at 5/6.

That said, the champions will not get away with fielding a weakened side against Villa, who have already taken four points off United in the league this season (the only team to have won at Old Trafford) and they might be a decent bet at 10/3 to win in normal time - 7/4 to lift the trophy.

With Rio Ferdinanad missing, the United defence could be vulnerable to Villa's pacey attacks and Gabriel Agbonlahor - scorer of the only goal when the teams met in December - is a tempting 15/2 with bet365 to score first (12/5 anytime) and get the hordes of Brummies singing.

Of course, at the other end of the pitch, the massively in-form Wayne Rooney will be a constant threat and it would be no surprise to see him break the deadlock at 7/2 - 10/11 to score anytime.

Once the game kicks off, bet365 will be live streaming the match with over 40 in-play markets available.

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