SUNDAY FA CUP BETTING TIPS

There are two FA Cup games on Sunday; one is an all Premiership tie and the other a potential banana skin for high flying Manchester City.  Arsenal will be the visitors to the Britannia Stadium as Stoke host the new Premier League leaders whereas Roberto Mancini’s multi-million pound stars must make a perhaps unglamorous trip to Glanford Park.
The first tie of the day will be on the banks of the river Trent and will be the first game since week two of this season which Arsenal have gone into as league leaders. The key to the betting in this one is whether Arsene Wenger decides to field a less than full strength side as he did in the third round against West Ham. As Stoke can be expected to present a similar sort of test to the Gunners as West Ham did I am inclined to believe that there will also be a number of changes for this game, and is probably the reason that they are not shorter than the 2.0 (Evens) on offer at Betfair.
I would be inclined to stay clear of the match odds markets on this one and focus on the goals betting. Arsenal have been in rampant mood of late and Stoke haven’t been their usual resilient self on their home patch which suggests that we could be in for a high scoring game. Backing over 2.5 goals at 2.1 (11/10) with Betfair looks to be the best bet of the day.
Later on in the day neutrals will be hoping for a giant-killing feat from Championship outfit Scunthorpe United. Although they inhabit a higher league than Leeds United this would surely be seen as a bigger feat than their victory over Manchester United, mainly due to the resentment felt in some parts toward City’s new found wealth. It will be interesting to see how the big money signings react to their first collective trip to a somewhat smaller stadium than they are used to and this will be Roberto Mancini’s first taste of the lower echelons of English football.
The betting suggests that it will be relatively straight forward for City and if they approach this in the same manner as they have all other cup games this season then I don’t see them having any problems. However, you aren’t going to get rich by backing them in the match odds market at the 1.4 (2/5) that is on offer at Betfair, a bet with a little more meat behind it might be to back the Man City clean sheet at 2.2 (5/4), there defence has been rejuvenated since the Italian’s induction at the helm.
It promises to be an intriguing day of football and don’t forget that the fifth round draw will follow proceedings at Glanford Park, we may have a new favourite in the FA Cup winners market by then.