FA Cup Preview – The Last 16 and Counting!!!

Eight teams are left, seven Premier League sides and just one Championship team looking to lift the trophy in May. Arsenal will want to put their Champions League disappointment behind them when they travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United in the tie of the round.

Manchester United vs Arsenal (Saturday 12/03 @ 17.15)

Arsenal will be keen to get their season back on track, whilst there are still fighting for the FA Cup and Premier League they are clearly frustrated at losing to Birmingham and getting knocked out by of the Champions League. Manchester United have also had their own stumble after losing to firece rivals Liverpool last weekend and Chelsea before that.

Robin Van Persie is going to be fit but Arsene Wenger will have to do without skipper Cesc Fabregas who has a hamstring problem and is likely to be out for a two weeks. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny also joined an increasing injury list when he hurt his finger on Wednesday, other players missing include winger Theo Walcott and holding midfielder Alex Song.

This game is a hard one to call, but the league leaders are very good value at evens and Arsenal are a generous 3s to win on the day. Wayne Rooney and ex-Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov are 5s to score first, if Sir Alex starts Javier Hernandez as he has in previous rounds the odds of 6s for first scorer could be worth backing. 

Birmingham vs Bolton (12/03 @ 12.45)

With the Carling Cup already won, Birmingham will see this as an excellent chance of returning to Wembley, in ther last game they drew 1-1 with Everton which moved them out of the relegation zone. The Blues are currently missing Barry Ferguson and Craig Gardner who are both injured but having shown their a good cup team and being on home soil makes them worth backing at 31/16.

Bolton had an excellent 3-2 win against Aston Villa last time out, but they will be missing on loan Daniel Sturridge who is cup-tied having played for Chelsea in the third round. Even though the Lancashire club are higher in the league they are 9/5 to win due to being away from home.

Stoke vs West Ham (13/03 @ 14.00)

West Ham are the form side, they are on a run of three consecutive wins which includes beating cup opponents 3-0 last time out. Sunday should see the Hammers being too strong for Stoke, even though the game is being played at Britannia Stadium – Odds of 11/4 on a away win should be taken advantage of.

The atmosphere will lift Stoke but their form of late has been poor, they will enjoy a break from the Premier League where they are in danger of being dragged into a relegation fight.

This will be a tight affair, with very few goals making odds of 4/6 for under 2.5 goals a good bet. Demba Ba has scored four goals in as many games and is worthy backing at 7s to open the scoring, if you want to go with the home side then look at John Carew at 6s to find the net first.

Manchester City vs Reading (13/03 @ 16.45)

Despite the disappointment of losing in Ukraine, this game should be relatively straight forward for City, no disrespect to Reading but with their strength in depth they should enjoy a comfortable afternoon.

Reading are 8s to pull of an unlikely shock, and the home side are 2/5, but once again backing the number of goals scored provides good value – for over 2.5 goals you can get odds of 4/6. For first scorer Yara Toure is 9s, the ex-Barcelona midfielder is always happy to get forward.