|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Home
Picks
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
FA Cup Previewby Ben, last updated 2007-02-27 00:20:41Pinnacle PreviewThe first piece of domestic silverware was settled on Sunday but not before the heavyweight battle had provoked a mass brawl. Many critics had suggested the League Cup was meaningless, but the huge dust-up in Cardiff said otherwise. The FA Cup - the oldest domestic knock-out tournament in the world - now takes centre-stage, with three midweek replays all expected to produce just as much passion, as the chance of a place in the first final at the new Wembley gets that bit closer. With each of the ties equally difficult to call, the margins of success are likely to be slim, but at www.pinnaclesports.com bettors can find themselves up to 60% better off. Ferguson Facing Tough Team Decisions All good things must come to an end, and Reading fans would rather that a nine game unbeaten run ended at the Riverside on Saturday, than on Tuesday in their mouth-watering FA Cup replay at home to Manchester United. At least the Royals maintained an excellent scoring record, finding the net for the twelfth consecutive game in the 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough, which would suggest that United will have to be at the top of their game to progress in normal time. Alex Ferguson was visibly delighted that his side came through against Fulham on Saturday in what he considered to be United's hardest test of the Premiership season so far. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney proved once more just how critical they are to the club's success. Ronney set-up Ryan Giggs for the equaliser, while Ronaldo's 88th minute goal was enough to give the Red Devils a nine-point advantage at the top of the table. Fergie must now decide whether to risk his prize assets in this FA Cup replay, given the critical game at Anfield on Saturday, and Champions League second leg next week. www.pinnaclesports.com have Reading 1.935 (+0.5 & +1) and United 1.990 (-0.5 & -1). Mowbray Looking to Knock-out his Hometown Team West Brom manager, Tony Mowbray, will be looking to put one over his home-town team, who he represented 345 times as a player. Since taking over as coach of the Midlands club in October, the Baggies have rocketed up the Championship table, and could be facing Boro next season in the Premiership, which is a greater priority than the FA Cup. West Brom should still turn out a full strength side of experienced players, and will have tremendous support at the Hawthorns. www.pinnaclesports.com rate them 1.862 (0/scratch). Boro have enjoyed more success in cup competitions than the league, making it to the last four of this competition last season, as well as the final of the UEFA Cup. The Teessiders normally guarantee excitement - beating another Championship side, Hull, 4-3 in Round three, while needing a replay, extra-time and penalties to finally shake off Division One side, Bristol City in the previous round. Forwards Yakubu and Mark Viduka have been in sparkling form, and should be expected to contribute again here. www.pinnaclesports.com have Boro 2.07 (0/scratch). Arsenal Expecting Another Scrap at Ewood Park Arsenal's defeat in the Carling Cup ended in disgrace with a 14 man brawl and two red cards. The punishments for that fracas are pending, but Arsene Wenger will be expecting another bruising encounter away to Ewood Park. The Gunners were held to a frustrating goalless draw in the original encounter at the Emirates Stadium but should enjoy more freedom as the away side. The Londoners faced a similar scenario in the previous round, having been held by Bolton at home, they played some exhilarating counter-attacking football to progress in extra-time at the Reebok. Blackburn bounced back from a demoralising UEFA Cup exit by thrashing Portsmouth 3-0 at Ewood Park on Sunday. Rovers were boosted by the return of Morten Gamst Pedersen, and should be fired up for this clash. Arsenal have however, won on three of the last four visits, so Mark Hughes side will have to raise their game to a new level to get a positive result. On that basis www.pinnaclesports.com have Arsenal marginal favourites on a split-ball handicap 1.917 (0/scratch & -0.5), with Blackburn 2.01 (0/scratch & +0.5). ← Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 Next → |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|