Man City, Southampton, Stoke, Aston Villa in tasty 2/1 FA Cup acca
The FA Cup is the gift that keeps on giving if punters bet with Coral. We’re offering an enhanced 2/1 price on individual odds-on home favourites and Premier League foursome Manchester City, Southampton, Stoke City and Aston Villa all to put their third round ties to bed in 90 minutes.
All these contests kick-off at 3pm on Sunday, and pair top-flight teams with lesser opposition. City host Sheffield Wednesday and Saints tackle Ipswich Town, while the Potters wrestle with Wrexham and Villa battle beleaguered Blackpool.
Our featured quartet’s Premier League status, and lack of it among their opponents, explains why they start as strong favourites for victory, so read on to discover specific reasons why this is a sure-fire bet.
Manchester City v Sheffield Wednesday
The Owls have already been to the Etihad in a cup competition this term, and had seven put past them. City are thus massive odds-on 1/6 favourites to win, with a repeat scoreline an 80/1 shot.
On-loan midfielder Frank Lampard bagged a brace in the Capital One Cup clash back in September, and grabbed the winner against Sunderland last time out, so he is even-money in the anytime market, and a 6/1 shot for two goals or more.
Southampton v Ipswich
The Saints are unbeaten in six previous meetings with the Suffolk side across all competitions, including a 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round back in 2010. Add in Ronald Koeman steering Southampton to a recent home win over holders Arsenal, and you can see why they are odds-on 4/9 favourites for victory here.
Sadio Mane will soon depart for the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, but not before he could wreak havoc on Mick McCarthy’s men. The Saints’ Senegal forward has netted the opener in each of his last three matches, so back him to score first here at 7/2.
Stoke v Wrexham
Premier League meets non-league here and, because the Potters are on a run of six straight victories in this head-to-head with the Welsh border side, they are strong odds-on 1/6 favourites to win here.
Mame Biram Diouf, another striker set to represent Senegal at AFCON, has shown some strong home form recently, and a repeat performance of or bettering his two goals from Stoke’s Midlands derby defeat of West Bromwich Albion is a 7/2 chance here.
Aston Villa v Blackpool
Championship basement club Blackpool travel to Villa Park, knowing they won only one of their last 13 matches. They face Paul Lambert’s side, who are odds-on 4/9 favourites, because they are unbeaten on home turf in two months.
Gabriel Agbonlahor has a goal against the Seasiders on his CV, and the long-serving Villa forward is even-money in the anytime market.
