Football betting tips: FA Cup
0.5pt Leicester to win at 8/1 (Betfred)
1pt Draw at 19/4 (bet365, Coral)
All in 90 minutes
Ruben Amorim was immediately positioned as something of a media darling on his arrival back in November, with Manchester United supporters and pundits alike positively drooling over his analysis of a frankly dreadful first game, where they were lucky to draw with a very poor Ipswich.
Nothing much has changed, not for the lack of trying - from Amorim at least.
That Portman Road performance was due to limited training time, apparently. So too subsequent shoddy showings in a particularly busy opening few weeks.
The training excuse was traded out for more fan-centric finger pointing over poor attitude somewhere along the way, with the main justification being that players should automatically be equally motivated when playing Bodo/Glimt, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace as they are when facing Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Hmmm.
More recently things have quietened down a touch, a reflection of Amorim's likely acceptance of something he was initially hesitant to believe, finally realising that no amount of grandstanding, gaslighting or Marcus Rashford-baiting will change simple facts: he has inherited a mediocre, mid-table Premier League squad.
On to the magic of the FA Cup then...
What are the best bets?
What perhaps remains the biggest miracle of this season is that the United legend in the away dugout on Friday night was able to leave Old Trafford in such a blaze of glory.
There is certainly an argument that goes beyond tongue in cheek that Ruud van Nistelrooy’s three wins, and a draw with Chelsea, scoring 11 goals and conceding just three, should be enough to earn him a place on the LMA's Manager of the Year shortlist.
He didn't go unrewarded (or unpunished?) though, with the two victories he secured over Leicester playing a leading role in his appointment as their new boss; the way it's going it would be a surprise if he lasted the season.
This, though, is the Cup...
It’s hard not to get 'the ick' when seeing this Manchester United priced at 3/10 against anyone, even if they are playing a team as bad as the Foxes.
Terrible as United are, lately they do seem to have found a way to beat poorer teams, winning four of their last six by seeing off Southampton, Rangers, Steaua Bucharest (FCSB) and an out-of-sorts Fulham.
At home under Amorim, any half-decent team (Palace, Brighton, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest) have swept United aside.
Leicester may very well fall into the pre-David Moyes Everton (4-0) Southampton (3-1) Bodo/Glimt (3-2) and Rangers (2-1) bracket, but those three most recent wins were far from straightforward. Stoppage-time goals were needed to beat Rangers and Saints, and even the Norwegian minnows took a shock 2-1 lead.
Given the huge prices about LEICESTER and the edge Van Nistelrooy must have as Amorim's immediate predecessor, I'm happy to back them TO WIN at 8/1 and to also take THE DRAW at 19/4 to appropriately balanced stakes - this provides a significantly better payout than the 23/10 win-draw double chance.
- CLICK HERE to back Leicester to win in 90 minutes with Sky Bet
- CLICK HERE to back Draw in 90 minutes with Sky Bet
Only a fortnight ago, having lost seven straight league games, Leicester came from behind to win 2-1 at Tottenham - a match in which they went off at 9/2.
This is a meeting of teams whose managers have really struggled to turn them around, and the prices simply don't stack up. The scrapping of FA Cup replays makes the draw a bigger runner than ever, too.
Plus, of course, the magic...
Team news
New signing Patrick Dorgu could make his Manchester United debut at left-wing-back. Goalkeeper Altay Bayindir is expected to start.
Lisandro Martinez will miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury. Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Mason Mount are also out.
Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has a chance of returning to the bench, but Ricardo Pereira and Abdul Fatawu remain out.
Mads Hermansen and Jakub Stolarczyk are vying to start in goal while Facundo Buonanotte will surely come in having been left out last weekend.
Predicted line-ups
Man Utd: Bayindir; Mazraoui, Maguire, De Ligt; Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dorgu; Amad, Hojlund, Fernandes.
Leicester: Stolarczyk; Coulibaly, Coady, Okoli, Kristiansen; Soumare, Skipp; Buonanotte, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Daka.
Odds correct at 1330 GMT (6/2/25)
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