Wednesday football betting preview
Leeds United v Tottenham, 7.45pm
On 7th November, Leeds United started their FA Cup campaign with a 2-0 win at Oldham. In the following round, they were twelve minutes from being knocked out at Kettering, before forcing a replay and that’s when some giant killing of their own took place. Very few people envisaged that they would come away from the Manchester United game with anything other than a sound defeat, while a 2-2 draw at Tottenham is more than most teams have come away with this season! Coral offer 7/2 that Simon Grayson’s team win the match and set up a fifth round tie at Bolton, thus continuing their marvellous FA Cup adventure but risking their automatic promotion place in the process.
Leeds finally got back to winning ways on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Colchester and it was no surprise to see Jermaine Beckford bag his 23rd and 24th goals of the season. The striker also managed a brace at White Hart Lane and will clearly have his backers at odds of 7/1 (Blue Square) and 9/4 (Bet Fred) that he either scores first or anytime respectively. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was gutted at the way his team shipped two goals to their League One opponents in the previous round, although the defence is improving all the time and Paddy Power’s 9/5 that the Premier League keep a clean sheet could be an interesting wager.
After all, Redknapp has steered a team to a cup final in each of the previous two seasons and there’s every chance of Jermain Defoe (5/1 Coral) and Peter Crouch (11/2 Boylesports) having some joy against a team that recently shipped three goals to Swindon. Providing Tottenham play to their strengths, we should see them oblige at odds of 17/20 (betfair), especially when you consider that they currently sit fourth in the Premier League. Perhaps ITV viewers will enjoy the excitement of extra-time and penalties, with Leeds available at 9/1 (Paddy Power) to win on spot-kicks.
Fulham v Portsmouth, 8pm
Neither team are in excellent form going into this match, with Fulham having lost their last five league matches on the bounce. Such a poor run has seen the Cottagers drop into the bottom half of the table, although they won’t have a better opportunity to bag a maximum haul and bet365 offer 8/11 that Roy Hodgson’s team snag the points. It’s certainly not inconceivable that Fulham could still have a relegation scrap on their hands and never have the goals of Bobby Zamora (11/2 Sky Bet) been so important to them.
Portsmouth are clearly drinking in last chance saloon and there were clear signs on Sunday afternoon that Avram Grant’s team were throwing plenty of men forward with the hope of taking the three points. With a trip to Old Trafford beckoning on Saturday, victory is essential for the Hampshire club and they are 5/1 (betfair) for that all-important win.
