FA Cup specialists Negredo and Lambert in generous scoring double

The FA Cup may have lost some of its spark in the last decade, but two players that still appear to have a love for the competition are Alvaro Negredo and Rickie Lambert.

Negredo has netted three goals in his two FA Cup appearances so far for Manchester City and has found the target in all of his four starts in domestic cup competitions for Manuel Pellegrini’s men.

Meanwhile, Lambert was on target in his sole appearance this season in the third-round victory over Burnley and has actually been on the scoresheet on his last three fixtures in the competition for Southampton.

Overall for the Saints, Lambert has scored in half of his FA Cup starts.

Therefore, 13/2 looks more than a generous price for an FA Cup double that Negredo and Lambert are both among the scorers in their respective fifth-round matches.

Man City will be out for a measure on Chelsea after their much-reviewed Premier League defeat and the February to March cross-over period in 2008 was the last occasion when City failed to score in three successive games.

Despite Man City’s inability to breach Chelsea or Norwich of late, Negredo has still netted nine goals in his last eight appearances and 17 in 18 games in all competitions at the Etihad this season.

After Man City’s midweek Premier League game with Sunderland was postponed, there is less reason to rotate here and with Sergio Aguero injured, Negredo is the main man to lead the line.

As for Lambert, he has run into some form of late with two goals in his last three starts.

The bad news for him is that he has failed to score in all four meetings with Sunderland since Southampton’s Premier League return, which includes the 2-2 draw at the Stadium Of Light between these two in January.

But, the Saints have scored in seven successive away games and with Lambert no stranger to scoring FA Cup goals, he can keep this run going.