There are those who moan about Friday Night Football but you won’t find them here. Cut those negative people out of your life, football and Fridays are a match made in heaven.
That’s a terrible pun isn’t it? Sorry, we only half meant it.
Anyway, there’s some FA Cup action happening this Friday night when Northampton Town welcome Derby County to Sixfields Stadium while QPR are hosting Sheffield Wednesday at Loftus Road. Who will progress to the next round?
ALMELO, NETHERLANDS – JANUARY 28: PSV Manager / Head Coach, Phillip Cocu gives his players instructions from the sidelines during the Dutch Eredivisie match between Heracles Almelo and PSV Eindhoven held at Polman Stadion on January 28, 2017 in Almelo, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Northampton Town vs Derby County: Both Teams to Score – Yes @ 8/11
Keith Curle’s Northampton Town are on a very good run of form of late, winning four and drawing one of their last five. At home, the Cobblers are even better, winning four and drawing one of their last five and only losing two in their last 15, winning 11, drawing the other two. They’re not exactly running away with matches though, as they’ve conceded at least one in four of their five previous matches and at home have kept just two clean sheets in five of late.
Derby, meanwhile, are on a good run too as they’ve also won four of five games recently, having endured a run of seven matches prior to that without a single win. Looking at their away matches in isolation though, the picture’s is not so rosy, with just one win over their last five away from Pride Park and looking at their last 15 on the road, they’ve only won twice, with five draws and eight losses making up the rest.
The silver lining here though is that over their last five home and away they’ve scored eight and conceded four, keeping two clean sheets and, away from home, they’ve scored four in their last three and conceded three.
That impressive home record for Northampton is making the 16/5 price look very tempting. However, Derby’s recent run is putting us off, with the Rams are unbeaten in their last three away matches and having overcome Crystal Palace in the last round. Both teams are in good goal scoring form though, so we’re going with the safer option of Both Teams to Score at 8/11.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 05: QPR manager Mark Warburton during the Sky Bet Championship match between Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers at The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on October 05, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)
QPR vs Sheffield Wednesday: QPR Win – 13/8
QPR are back to winning ways after a terrible November and December where they won just two matches. Over their last five they’ve won three and lost two. At home they’ve won three in a row, losing one and drawing one prior to that run. Over 2.5 goals has landed in four of five recent home matches so at 10/11 it might be worth considering.
The Hoops have a great recent record against Wednesday as well, winning 4/5 previous meetings both home and away, the other ending in a draw.
Wednesday’s form isn’t as good, they’ve won two and lost three of their last five. On their travels, things are a little better, they’ve won three, drawn one and lost one. Over 2.5 goals has landed in 2/5 recent away matches for the Owls. They’re scoring plenty of goals on the road, as are QPR at home, Both Teams to Score at 1.73 look good too but that recent head to head record mixed with home advantage is pointing us towards a home win for QPR, currently priced at 13/8.
Both of these picks in a double will give you odds of over 3/1
Northampton Town vs Derby County: Both Teams to Score – Yes @ 8/11
QPR vs Sheffield Wednesday: QPR Win – 13/8
*All odds correct at time of publication
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