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When one door on the road to Wembley closes another opens but Liverpool will have to raise their game if they don’t want to see it slammed in their face.
They must go again after losing their League Cup semi-final to Southampton on Wednesday and they kick off Saturday’s FA Cup action at skinny odds against Wolves and as fourth favourites for the tournament.
Chelsea, while sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, are also looking down on the rest in the Cup betting – they’re 9/2 market leaders ahead of Manchester City (11/2), Manchester United (6/1), the Reds (7/1) and north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham (8/1).
The numbered balls were kind to the big boys with the Blues, Spurs and United also on their own patch against lower-league opposition.
Arsenal and City face stiffer tests though - the Gunners are at Southampton, while City travel to Crystal Palace in the other all-Premier League affair.
But back to Anfield for the second game of round four - Derby host Leicester on Friday night – and after the setback against Saints, Jurgen Klopp’s side, in seven games so far in 2017 have only managed to beat Plymouth.
His side are still no better than 3/10 to see off Wolves with the draw available at 11/2 and an away win 12/1.
At even longer odds than the men from Molineux, you’ve got Chelsea’s opponents Brentford at 18/1, Wigan the same price at Manchester United and Wycombe 22/1 to beat Spurs.
Anything can happen in FA Cup week – Mrs Brown’s Boys was named best comedy at the telly awards for crying out loud - but we won’t be backing against the favourites at home.
An Anfield draw at half-time and a Reds win might not be the daftest bet in the world though as nerves are creeping into the Kop. That’s around 5/1 in several places.
Of the 13 top-flight teams left, Leicester, Watford (at Millwall) and Hull (at Fulham) look the most at risk.
Derby haven’t lost at home since September and knocked West Brom out three weeks ago while Leicester are getting sucked towards the Premier League relegation scrap.
Likewise Watford, whose only win in their last 11 games was against Burton in the previous round. They face a Millwall team unbeaten in seven with an easy win over a much-changed Bournemouth side in the middle of that run.
Fulham’s priority is a push for the play-offs but they’re more than capable of taming the Tigers, who gave United a fright on Thursday but are facing up to a dogfight without their best player, Robert Snodgrass.
On the south coast, the 14/5 on offer for Saints to sink Arsenal is worth a nibble. They did the business against Liverpool and in eight meetings with Arsenal going back to this same weekend three years ago, they’ve lost two, drawn two and won four. You can get 11/2 on a home win with both teams scoring.
Sky Bet have a range of specials for games involving the Premier League teams with all 13 to score priced up at 8/1.
They go the same price that every game involving a top-flight team has over 1.5 goals while over 2.5 goals in the same games is a MASSIVE 300/1. Surely worth a cheeky quid.
If there’s no upsets, 11 of them will make the fifth round and you can back that at 14/1. Exactly 10 going through is 3/1, for nine it’s 7/4 and eight is 11/4.
At the other end of the market, Sutton, 5,000/1 for the trophy, are the lowest-ranked side left in the competition and they already have reason to celebrate with a £500,000 windfall coming their run regardless of what happens against Leeds.
The cash will soften the blow of their exit while Brighton can join their fellow Championship high-flyers in the draw for the next round by winning at Lincoln.
For this week’s anytime scorer treble, have a go with Southampton’s Shane Long, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus (the offside flag denied him on debut) and Millwall’s Lee Gregory. All three hitting the target pays a shade over 20/1 with several bookies.
Prices from oddschecker.com - correct at time of publication, subject to change
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