Match Result and BTTS really just rack up the odds and we have a treble here for the weekend which returns a cracking price. Take a look…
Sunderland V Southampton – 3.00pm Saturday – Southampton to win and BTTS is 7/2 with BetVictor
The Stadium of Light hosts this FA Cup Fifth Round tie with both sides aiming to book a place in the Quarter Finals. Cup fever has already hit Sunderland earlier on in the season but that was with the League Cup where they have a Final to look forward to. Along with a relegation battle they have a very busy end to the season and do not want to suffer the same ending that Wigan and Birmingham City have suffered in recent years by winning a trophy and going and also being relegated. I see this ending in a Southampton win, I believe Sunderland are already spinning enough plates and Gus Poyet will be far more concerned with other duties to end up devasted if they do lose here. A replay is the last thing the Uruguayan manager needs so expect to see an attacking performance from the Black Cats, one that will earn them a goal but also a defeat.
Southampton come into the tie after taking a 1-0 victory away at Hull in midweek and confidence couldn’t be higher after beating Fulham as well, 3-0 the week previous at Craven Cottage. The Saints are set to finish the season comfortably in the top half of the Premier League with no interest in what is going at the bottom which should give them much more focus on this FA Cup run. A trophy would be the icing on the cake for manager Pochettino who has turned this Southampton side into an outfit of not just quality but energy and strategy. I cannot see anything but an away win here, and with any good cup tie i am predicting goals from both sides.
Preston North End v Leyton Orient – 3.00pm Saturday – Preston to win and BTTS is 7/2 with BetVictor
The cracker on the League One coupon this Saturday is third verses fourth where Preston have the chance to take a giant step towards challenging for an automatic promotion spot along with opposition today, Leyton Orient, Wolves and top of the table Brentford. Preston are on far better form and come into the tie on the back of two wins, the Lilywhites will see this as their most important game of the season so far as the five point gap which separates the two sides, will be cut to two with a victory. North End have already got the better of Orient when they registered a 1-0 win at Brisbane Road. I cannot see past a home win here.
Leyton Orient have lost three games in a row, the latest, a devastating 3-1 home defeat to strugglers Bristol City and the time before that was to Peterborough who couldn’t buy a win before that shock result. Going away to Preston is not going to provide any sort of reprieve and i expect them to be up against it from the first whistle onwards. There is plenty of evidence to say the O’s will find the net though, on each and every away game they have scored. That is 16 in a row and quite some record! This selection was the first on the sheet today for obvious reasons and I can see this tie providing plenty of goals
Rotherham v Stevenage – 3.00pm Saturday – Rotherham to win and BTTS is 9/4 with BetVictor
You would think our final selection is a foregone conclusion with high flying Rotherham in line to comfortably dispatch of bottom of the league Stevenage. I do think Rotherham will win this, but expect it to be far closer than the bookies have it. The Millers are in fifth place and playing some great football at present, having registered a terrific victory last time out when they beat Leyton Orient away from home. And that is where the majority of their success lies- away form. If the table was based on home games alone, Rotherham would be as low as 14th. Having said all this i expect them to have far too much for Stevenage and should run out winners. Former Everton youngster Kieran Agard is the man to watch, he has already found the net 11 times this season.
Bottom of the league Stevenage will not be looking forward to taking on a Rotherham side on form, but they will take confidence in the fact the Millers have only kept a clean sheet twice all season at home and you would have to go back seven league games to find the last time they did not concede. Boro picked up a huge three points last week, winning 3-1 at home to Gillingham which shows they do have goals in them. With that know-how in front of net combined with Rotherham’s persistence to concede at home, I can see a Stevenage goal on Saturday but a game that will end in defeat for the Stripes.
