Day: August 27, 2018

Crystal Palace would be looking to end a run of back to back defeats by making progress in the League Cup here. They were beaten by Liverpool on Monday and lost at the weekend to Watford as well, these losses have put a stop to a good start to the season for the Eagles but they can get back on track against this struggling Swansea side.

Swansea surprisingly won this competition in 2013, but having suffered relegation last season, and seen most of their star men leave, they would be more than happy to get past this round.

The Swans have started their Championship campaign well, however, they lost their first game of the season at the weekend. Bristol City took all three points with a 1-0 win at the Liberty Stadium. For a team looking to get back to the Premier League at the end of this season, this game offers them the chance to show they are ready to bounce back.

This has not been a happy hunting ground for Palace as they have not won any of their last six visits to this ground. However, the two teams have been scoring in the last few encounters between them including a 9 goals thriller in 2016.

This is one of the most important games the teams that have made it to this round would be playing this season, and these two teams would be looking to be among the teams for the group stage draw on Thursday.

Dynamo Kiev are trailing 3-1 from the first leg and the Ukrainians know that they would have to be at their very best to get the result that would pull them through in this game.

After their 3-1 loss, they dropped their first points of the season in their domestic league. However, they have still collected 13 points from a possible 15 this season, that should boost their confidence ahead of this game.

Ajax have missed the group stage of the Champions League in the last four seasons, however, after their 3-1 win in the first leg, they are on the cusp of returning to the big stage again this season.

The Dutch giants are enjoying a resurgence thanks to the impact of the likes of Dusan Tadic and Jan Klas Huntelaar, and they should finish the job here.

These two teams face off in the only all-Premier League clash in this second round of the English league cup and they would both be looking to go further in this competition.

Brighton have started their season in an average way. They may have collected just three points from their opening three league games,  but their 3-2 win over Manchester United is the kind of result that Southampton dream of.

After beating the Red Devils on matchday 2, they were impressive in their last Premier League game when they visited Liverpool at Anfield. They lost the game 1-0, no thanks to a Mohamed Salah 23rd minute strike. However, the Seagulls were very brave in that game and almost got an equalizer in the second half.

Southampton have started their season like they ended the last campaign and they might be fighting for relegation yet again this season.

Despite their struggles in the league, the Saints have a good record in this competition. They reached the finals in the 2016/2017 season where they lost 3-2 to Manchester United.

Prior to that season, they had reached the quarterfinals in consecutive seasons. However, they were eliminated at the first hurdle last season, so they would be looking to do better in this game.