Grab Edin Dzeko’s boosted odds to score first v Newcastle!

Mostly overlooked in the Premier League, Edin Dzeko will no doubt get his chance to shine in the Capital One Cup and as the Bosnian showed in the last round, he’s always a top pick to grab the first goal of the game.

Ladbrokes have extended the odds on Manchester City striker Dzeko to score the first goal of the game at St James’ Park from 11/2 out to 13/2.

There are plenty of good reasons to believe this a chance worth taking on the Bosnian too, not least because his last start in the competition back in September yielded the first goal that day, as City thumped Wigan 5-0.

Dzeko has also scored on his only Premier League appearance since then at Aston Villa, while the sizeable striker also registered twice in one game for his country – including the first goal of that game against Liechtenstein.

That brace for Bosnia made it six goals in 13 appearances all told for club and country since the start of the 2013/14 campaign.

It was always going to be a tough job for Pellegrini to keep four world class strikers happy at the Etihad, though Dzeko has so far shown no shortage of hunger and desire to get on the scoresheet when called upon.

Games like this give himself and the likes of Stevan Jovetic the chance to show the manager what they are missing, much like Juan Mata’s sparkling display in this competition at Arsenal, which the playmaker capped with a goal to send a clear message to Jose Mourinho.

Meanwhile, Dzeko’s odds to score at anytime of 7/4 are worth considering, as is the far tastier 11/2 to bag the final goal of the cup tie.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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