FA Cup tips: Paddy Power trader’s best bets for Round Five

Paddy Power football trader Brian McDonnell gives us his best bets for the midweek action.

FA Cup betting tips, Fulham v Leeds, Sheffield United v Spurs

Our football trading team are on fire after Sam Kingston landed a whopper 22/1 Carabao Cup Final Bet Builder, and now his pal Brian McDonnell is taking on the mantle to keep our good run going for this week’s FA Cup matches.

FA Cup Betting Tips:

Tuesday, 7:45pm – Fulham v LeedsFulham to Win
Wednesday, 7:55pm – Sheffield United v SpursDraw & Under 2.5 Goals

Fulham v Leeds – Fulham to Win

TV: BBC One (7:45pm)

I really like Fulham to win here. They’re odds-against at the minute, in and around 11/10 to 6/5 to Win and that’s really appealing to me to take them on to win in the 90 minutes. Their manager, Marco Silva said during the week that Aleksandar Mitrovic is fit and will be in the squad so that’s a huge boost for the home side here. 

They’ve had a great season so far, they’re sixth in the Premier League. Are they going to challenge for the Top 4 come the end of the season? Probably not, they’ve played a few more games than teams around them and I think they’re around 80/1 to finish in the Top 4 at the minute. 

For me their attention should be on the FA Cup, it’s a huge opportunity for Fulham to get a trip to Wembley and challenge for a domestic cup whereas you look at Leeds on the other hand, they’re in a huge relegation battle at the other end of the Premier League table. Will they want an FA Cup distraction come the latter stages of the season if they’re still in that relegation battle? Probably not.

Their new manager Javi Gracia, he might well use this match as an opportunity to see a couple of players in competitive football that he mightn’t have been able to see in the league and the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, Weston McKennie, Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson could all be rested here. 

I think it’s really a good price for Fulham to win here at Craven Cottage and I think they’ll be up for it, far more than Leeds will be.

Son-Heung-Min, Spurs, Nov 2022

Sheff Utd v Tottenham – Draw & Under 2.5 Goals

TV: BBC One (7:55pm)

I can make a case for either of these teams at the current prices. I think most people would have expected Spurs’ price to be a bit shorter, maybe closer to the 1/2 mark but Sheffield United are going very well in the Championship, they’ve got a five point cushion in second position in the league standings. 

They’re very hard to beat at Bramall Lane as well, they’ve won seven of their last eight games played there so I’d be wary of backing Tottenham to win here. 

Spurs have been very inconsistent this season. They are coming off the back of two big London derby victories in the Premier League, beating both Chelsea and West Ham 2-0. You’d have to ask if they’ll make changes for this one, they travel to Wolves this weekend in the league before a huge must-win second leg against AC Milan in the Champions League next week. 

So, not knowing who might start here I wouldn’t be a fan of backing them. I think it’s quite an even match-up, as I’ve said above, Sheffield United are very difficult to beat at home. I think they’ll set up defensively and look to frustrate Tottenham so I think goals might be hard to come by in this one so I’m going with a Drawn & Under 2.5 goals.

FA Cup Betting Tips:

Tuesday, 7:45pm – Fulham v LeedsFulham to Win
Wednesday, 7:55pm – Sheffield United v SpursDrawn & Under 2.5 Goals

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