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09 March 2007
 FA
Cup Betting Preview
Soccer fans having been
enjoying a feast of football, as the battles at both ends of
the Premiership have provided some classic domestic
encounters, while the Champions League has added some
continental spice to the action-packed menu.
The excitement continues
this weekend with quarter-finals of the oldest Cup
competition in the World - the English FA Cup.
The Riverside -
Graveyard of Premiership's Elite
Middlesbrough are arguably
the most enigmatic side in the Premiership. The Teessiders
currently float in mid-table and are set to conclude another
league season of mediocrity, despite having beaten Chelsea
and Bolton at the Riverside and taking a point from both
Liverpool and Arsenal. It was a similar story last season,
with convincing home wins over Arsenal, Chelsea and
Manchester United, who they face in an FA Cup quarter-final
on Saturday evening. The Red Devils left Teesside with their
tails between their legs after a 4-1 drubbing, reinforcing
the venue's reputation as the graveyard of the Premiership's
elite.
United were also losers
when the sides met in the FA Cup in 2002 at Boro's ground,
when current coach, Gareth Southgate, captained the side.
Southgate is looking to go one better than last season's FA
Cup semi-final, and take advantage of treble-chasing
United's congested fixture schedule. This will be Manchester
United's seventh game in three weeks, and without doubt
Ferguson will shuffle the pack, as he did in the previous
round. Everything has been running Fergie's way so far, but
football is a fickle business and he must travel to one of
his bogey grounds, short of strikers; Larsson, Saha and
Solskjaer are all unavailable. Nevertheless Pinnacle Sports
rate the visitors marginal favourites 1.794 (+0.5) and
Middlesbrough 2.16 (+0.5).
Citizens Looking for
Distraction from Premiership Plummet
Man City is one of the
best supported clubs in the country with a fiercely loyal
fan base, but their supporters' patience has been severely
tested of late. The Citizens have lost four straight
Premiership fixtures and have found the net in just one of
their last five. That form has seen them drawn ever closer
to the relegation struggle, from which the FA Cup is a
welcome distraction. City defeated Championship' sides in
the previous two rounds, but now visit Ewood Park to face a
Blackburn side who thrashed them 3-0 at the City of
Manchester stadium toward the end of January.
In contrast to Man City's
demise, Rovers are riding the crest of a mini-wave having
beaten Arsenal in the previous round (on a replay),
recording back-to-back league wins, and conceding just one
goal in their previous five games. South African forward,
Benni McCarthy, is on a roll, with three goals in two games.
He will be eager for silverware in his first season in
England. Pinnacle Sports rate Blackburn 1.943 (-0.5) and
Manchester City 1.980 (+0.5).
Chelsea Still in the
Hunt for Four Trophies
Having already bagged the
League Cup with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal, another North
London club stand in the way of Chelsea's bid for four
pieces of silverware this weekend. The FA Cup is the only
domestic competition Jose Mourinho is yet to win during his
short tenure of the Blues, and the hugely competitive coach
will want to rectify that soon. He will have to do without
the services of battered captain, John Terry, who isn't
expected to return to action until next week.
Spurs' season seemed to be
going downhill after recent defeats in high-profile games
against Arsenal and Man Utd suggested the club were nowhere
nearer closing the gap with the country's elite. Some
pundits even suggested Martin Jol might be sacked if the
club failed to beat Fulham at Craven Cottage in the previous
round of this competition. In the event Tottenham ran out
4-0 winners and have scored another ten goals in winning
three further games, two on the road. In November at White
Hart Lane Spurs recorded their first win over Chelsea since
1990. They must now attempt the near impossible and do what
only Barcelona have achieved in the previous three seasons -
win at Stamford Bridge. Pinnacle Sports favour the home
side, with Chelsea 1.962 (-1) and Spurs 1.962
(+1).
Plymouth Flying Flag
for Championship
Plymouth Argyle are the
only remaining non-Premiership side in the FA Cup, but their
quarter-final tie against Watford is highly likely to be a
Championship fixture next season. Despite their best
efforts, the Hornets are odds-on for relegation after a
season struggling in the top flight. On that basis there is
very little between the sides who Pinnacle Sports cannot
separate offering them off a level Asian Handicap with
Plymouth marginally favoured, 1.952 (0/scratch) and Watford
1.971 (0/scratch).
Argyle are managed by the
eccentric Ian Holloway, who is never short of an opinion. He
has wheeled and dealed on the transfer market, brining in
poacher, Kevin Gallen, from his old club QPR, whilst adding
Hungarian flair to the football at Home Park with three
Magyars currently in the squad.
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