Palace 12/1 for Carling Cup glory

Sky Bet have cut Crystal Palace from 50/1 to 12/1 to win the Carling Cup after the Championship outfit dumped out Manchester United.

Palace then avoided the two remaining Premier League sides in the competition to draw Cardiff, who overcame Blackburn and are now 8/1 to lift the trophy.

With neighbours United out of the equation, Manchester City have been cut to 4/5 favourites with their semi-final opponents Liverpool in from 6/1 to 13/8 after ousting Chelsea.

With the Championship and Premier League sides separated in the draw, Sky Bet are offering 13/2 for either of England's second-tier sides to win the competition.

Meanwhile, betting on the next Sunderland manager is looking increasingly a two-horse race with Martin O'Neill drifting out to 6/4 as Mark Hughes has come in to 4/7 favourite to be handed their reins.