Football betting tips: FA Cup
1.5pts Fulham to win at 2/1 (Betfred, bet365, Coral)
1.5pts Sasa Lukic to be shown a card at 12/5 (Betfair, Paddy Power)
1pt Rodrigo Muniz to score anytime at 13/5 (Betfair, Paddy Power)
1pt Manuel Ugarte to be shown a card at 11/4 (bet365)
0.5pt Ugarte and Lukic card double at 10/1 (bet365)
All in 90 minutes
BuildABet @ 33/1
- Fulham to win
- Rodrigo Muniz to score anytime
- Sasa Lukic to be shown a card
- Manuel Ugarte to be shown a card
All in 90 minutes
They can't keep getting away with it! As it turns out, they sort of can.
When an obvious offside allowed Manchester United to squeeze past Leicester in the FA Cup fourth round, you could be forgiven for punching the TV screen if you'd taken the Foxes at 8/1 in the double chance, another reason to dislike an increasingly dislikable football club who only this week announced plans for another round of mass redundancies.
Harry Maguire's winning goal against his former team was at the time the latest in a series of fortunate escapes, many of which were last gasp in nature.
The famously slab-headed centre-back has since helped secure another, at home to Ipswich in midweek, and was part of the United team thoroughly outplayed by Everton a week ago only to score two goals out of nothing and leave Goodison with a point.
Undoubtedly, Ruben Amorim has instilled a level of determination in his squad, but an enormous amount of context must be applied to their last 10 fixtures.
Only four of their opponents haven't been Premier League relegation battlers or Europa League teams of an even lower quality. Of those four meetings, three have ended in defeats with one win - away at Sunday's opponents.
Fulham will be keen to make amends for coming out on the wrong side of a forgettable late January contest at Craven Cottage.
I'm keen to back them to do so.
What are the best bets?
FULHAM are having an excellent season under Amorim's friend and compatriot Marco Silva, sitting ninth and just six points behind third-placed Nottingham Forest.
Away from home they have been particularly impressive (W8 D5 L3 in all competitions) with only Liverpool and Arsenal taking more than their 1.69 points per game in the top flight.
They visit a Manchester United side whose home form has been hugely concerning for quite some time. Since Amorim took charge, it can be neatly split into meetings with stronger and weaker opponents, without a single draw.
The Portuguese coach has overseen home wins over Bodo/Glimt, Everton, Southampton, Rangers, Leicester and Ipswich. Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Brighton and Crystal Palace have all left Old Trafford with three points.
With FULHAM the outsiders at 2/1, we should keep this simple and back them TO WIN.
Red-hot Rodrigo
Prior to finding the net at Anfield on December 14, this had looked like being an underwhelming season for RODRIGO MUNIZ after a 2023/24 full of promise.
But after one goal in his first 15 matches of the campaign the Brazilian has scored seven in his last 14, with 10 of those appearances from the bench.
During that period Muniz has averaged a goal every 63 minutes, and crucially for our purposes started both FA Cup ties (scoring three times) as well as starting and scoring in the midweek win at Wolves.
At 13/5 TO SCORE ANYTIME this looks an excellent bet against a fragile Manchester United defence further weakened by injuries and suspensions.
Midfield battle
Fulham's SASA LUKIC picked up his 10th yellow card of the season on Tuesday, triggering a two-match ban. A quirk of the rules means that suspension applies to top-flight matches only, so he should start at Old Trafford.
Along with Crystal Palace's Will Hughes, the Serbia midfielder is the most carded player in the Premier League this season but in all competitions MANUEL UGARTE is level with him on 10.
Ugarte is also more prolific.
Among players to have played at least 14 league matches, only Darwin Nunez and Gabriel Jesus are averaging more yellow cards per 90 than his 0.57.
- CLICK HERE to back Sasa Lukic card with Sky Bet
- CLICK HERE to back Manuel Ugarte card with Sky Bet
- CLICK HERE to back Lukic-Ugarte card double with Sky Bet
At a respective 5/2 and 11/4 TO BE SHOWN CARD we should back both, with it also worth taking smaller stakes to the 10/1 CARD DOUBLE.
In normal circumstances this would be quite the midfield battle, but with Lukic knowing this is his club action until April 1, we should expect him to be even more full-blooded than usual.
Team news
Manchester United will be without suspended defender Patrick Dorgu after he was sent off late in the first half of the midweek win over Ipswich.
He joins a lengthy list of absentees, with Lisandro Martinez, Amad Diallo, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans, Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo all missing. Usual cup keeper Altay Bayindir is also out, meaning Andre Onana will continue in goal.
Fulham have Sasa Lukic available as his two-match ban for collecting 10 Premier League yellow cards applies to top-flight matches only.
Reiss Nelson, Harry Wilson and Kenny Tete are all out, and Emile Smith Rowe is also expected to be missing.
Predicted line-ups
Man Utd: Onana; Yoro, De Ligt, Maguire; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dalot; Garnacho, Fernandes; Zirkzee.
Fulham: Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Traore, Pereira, Iwobi; Muniz.
Odds correct at 1330 GMT (28/2/25)
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