FA Cup: Cottagers can take Premier League scalp

Picking winners in the FA Cup can be troublesome as Paul Merson found out a couple of years ago. I remember ‘Merse’ picking out three 33/1+ shots in the 1st Round only for all three to lose in the 3rd Round.

In fairness to Merson, he picked three sides who all seemed to have little to play for in the league yet all three made wholesale changes to their side in their first game in this competition that season and that is always a concern at this stage of the competition.

Of all the sides in the Premier League, the one I am most confident will rest players are Aston Villa. The sole aim of Dean Smith’s side will be to stay up this term and they face the added issue of having their number one goalkeeper and main striker ruled out for the season earlier this week. In addition to this, they have a League Cup Semifinal against Leicester on Wednesday night.

Villa’s opponents, Fulham, have plenty to play for themselves. Despite having an attack that would be the envy of many a Premier League side, The Cottagers find themselves in fifth place in The Championship and ten points off the automatic places. Scott Parker may rest a few himself but given they have no midweek game themselves I would be amazed if they don’t have a strong bench.

All things considered, I don’t think many people connected to Aston Villa would be too concerned if this game saw the end of their FA Cup campaign and I am happy to take the 11/10 on a home victory. That is available with Bet365.

I cannot think of too many times I have offered a 3/4 shot but that is exactly what I am doing here.

Brighton may rest a lot of players for this encounter but their opponents Sheffield Wednesday are likely to do exactly the same thing. The Owls are just two points off the playoffs and ensuring the South Yorkshire side finish in the top six of The Championship will surely be Garry Monk’s ambition this season.

I’ve seen Brighton a fair bit over the Christmas period and have been impressed with how they’ve been able to rotate without seeing much of a drop off in terms of performance.

For example, Shane Duffy, a stalwart over the past couple of seasons is no longer a first choice yet he is a more than competent Premier League defender. Additionally, I am not sure that Aaron Connelly is too inferior to Neal Maupay and the same could be said for several other positions.

Ultimately, I believe that the significant changes that both sides will make will be of greater detriment to the away side and all things considered, the hosts at 3/4 with Betway make much more appeal than their opponents.