IT'S a tough weekend for punters with the FA Cup dominating and managers rotating faster than a potter's wheel.
A few years ago only Premier League teams rested players at this stage then it graduated to the Championship and now everyone's at it.
League points mean more to almost every club than a cup run because being promoted or relegated is what matters most when it comes to budgets.
I've said it before but hold your bets until you see line-ups if that's possible – and of course I can't do that when making predictions.
So bearing that in mind keep low stakes or avoid WDW bets altogether and go for goals.
FA Cup Competition
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Top tie of the day is Wolves v Man United and if the home side go strong they should come out on top at a best 7-5 with bet365.
Since arriving in the Premier League, Wolves are unbeaten against United and generally play better against the traditional top six.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men have won two out of three at home to United and pushed Liverpool hard at Anfield on New Year's Day.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side suffered a big setback when they were easily beaten at Arsenal and he's as likely as his counterpart to make changes.
If both are about three quarter strength I'd take a look at both to score at 4-5 with Marathonbet.
It's a big day for League Two Port Vale who head to Man City facing a battering from whoever Pep Guardiola puts out.
Last season City won 7-0, 5-0, 6-0 and 9-0 against lower-league sides in cup ties and Vale face at least a 4-0 defeat.
City -3 pays 4-5 at Paddy Power while -4 is much bigger at 2-1.
Young gun Phil Foden usually gets a run-out in these type of games and often scores. The English Under-21 star is 13-8 with Unibet to score and 10-1 to break the deadlock.
Leicester should be one of the teams eyeing up the silverware but a Champions League place is more valuable.
However, Brendan Rodgers loves winning trophies and even weakened side should be able to beat Wigan with something to spare. Back the Foxes -2 at evens with Betfred.
Southampton are on a great run up the table and should see off a Huddersfield side that conceded five at home to Stoke in midweek. They are 1-2 at Ladbrokes
Newcastle kick off in one of the early games at Rochdale and even though they rarely do well in cups they should win this one at 4-5 with Betfred.
There are usually a couple of shocks so where will they happen?
Bournemouth are also 1-2 against Luton but the Cherries are now in the drop zone and don't usually give preference to cup runs. The Hatters could be worth a look at 15-2 with bet365,
Alex Neil welcomes his former side Norwich to Preston and has every chance of knocking them out at 5-4 with McBookie.
Championship promotion chasers Fuham will fancy their chances against Aston Villa and are 23-20 with Betfred.
Reading have had runs to the quarters and semi-finals in the last five years and I like them at 17-20 with Unibet at home to Blackpool.
Recommended Bets
- West Ham
- Man City -4
- Foden to score
- Leicester -2
- Newcastle
- Reading
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
English football this ain’t, so I apologise for the essay to come. Not sure where else to post.
Tennis is back! Kind of. I’m not yet sure what to make of the season now kicking off with the newly formed ATP Cup, but it will be interesting to see how it goes down.
The novelty of it all and the fact it comes right at the start of January makes it hard back any individual players with much confidence, and there’s a clear favourite for the overall title in Spain, who Rafa Nadal lead to Davis Cup glory last month.
I will be steering clear of any major match bets until I’ve had a chance to see people in action, but I fancy a wee flutter on Poland to upset the apple cart in Group E and see their overall title odds slashed.
Hubert Hurcakz and Kamil Majchrzak aren’t the biggest names in the group (those would be Austria’s Thiem, Croatia’s Cilic and Coric and Argentina’s Schwartzman) but they are a solid and dangerous 1,2 pairing coming off groundbreaking seasons.
If we look at Croatia, Cilic hasn’t been near his best for a while, and Coric finished last season horribly. For Argentina, Schwartzman is an excellent and solid player, but can be overpowered on a surface like this, and his number 2, Pella, is more comfortable on a clay court and is rated as a nearly even money shout in some quarters for his opener against the dangerous Majchrzak, despite being 75 places better off in the rankings. Thiem is of course the cream of the crop here, and has decent but unspectacular supporting cast of Novak and Offner, both ranked outside the top 100.
Poland also have in their ranks Łukasz Kubot, who was ranked number 1 in doubles just a year ago and now sits 2nd in the rankings. He could make all the difference if ties come down to the deciding doubles rubber.
The two ties singles ties in Argentina v Poland tomorrow are both close to even money in various places, and I’d back them in the doubles with the man Kubot on hand (they are slight favourites with the bookies there) so I’m definitely sold on chancing Poland to come out on top, given the odds on that.
Poland to beat Argentina @ 15/8
Poland to win ATP cup @ 66/1 boosted to 80/1 @ Ladbrokes
Poland to win all 3 ties 8/1
The Poland Argentina tie starts imminently, for anyone interested