Newport Can Prevent A Drubbing Against City
There are three matches in the last 16 of the FA Cup today and the first tie of the round saw the Premier League side beat a team from a lower division on the road. All the evidence suggests there should be the same outcome at the end of Manchester City’s trip to Newport in the fifth round. They say you should never back a team at odds-on away from home and only the money buyers will be interested in the 6% return on investment on a City win. The betting angle comes in the form of the margin of victory and the spread bookmakers make City three goal favourites.
Newport have conceded just six goals in their last six FA Cup ties against opponents from the Premier League and Championship. The home team have let in just one goal in their last three fixtures. The pitch and conditions will be alien to City but they should have the class and professionalism to win the match. They have just come off a 6-0 win against one of the top six sides in the Premier League. Team selection is irrelevant as the City second string is better than most sides first 11. However, it should not be a cricket score so NEWPORT +3 is the bet at 6/4 with Ladbrokes.
It seems almost as if Brighton are trying to get knocked out of the FA Cup because they have played the reserves in the third and fourth rounds. Privately Chris Hughton may be fuming that the understudies are winning ties. However, if he rests his best players Brighton could come unstuck at home to Derby today. Frank Lampard, the rookie manager of Derby, has sent out strong teams in the Cup despite the main objective being promotion to the Premier League. His positive policy can pay dividends at Brighton and DERBY are 10/3 with bet365 to win the match.
Newbury’s loss is Ascot’s gain because the two big races lost last Saturday will be part of a nine race card at the royal racecourse. The Denman Chase and Betfair Hurdle were scheduled for Newbury but the meeting was cancelled due to the outbreak of equine flu. Clan Des Obeaux is the clear form pick for the Denman Chase (2.45) but TERREFORT can upset the odds by winning the race at 5/2 with Ladbrokes. Nigel Twiston-Davies has won the Betfair Hurdle (3.20) twice in the last five years and AL DANCER has a similar profile to those winners so is the tip at 11/4 with bet365.
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