Football betting tips: FA Cup
0.5pts e.w. Callum Lang to score first at 20/1 (bet365 1/3 1-99)
Manchester United are under pressure? I never knew that.
Erik ten Hag is the bookies' favourite in the sack race, and it is hardly surprising. A culmination of high spend, underperformance and increasingly slim silverware prospects are to blame.
Dumped out of Europe (Champions and Europa League), the Carabao Cup and nine points off the top four pace, the FA Cup is both the best chance of salvaging their season and perhaps the only way their boss keeps his job.
Given the context, there is no way Ten Hag takes this clash lightly. A defeat in the third round to Sky Bet League One side Wigan would be the final nail in the coffin. Surely.
What are the best bets?
On paper, it may look as though Manchester United play with two defensive midfielders but watching them this does not seem to be the case and the absence of an adequate destroyer in the engine room is a weakness often exploited by their opponents.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest were the latest perpetrators in their 2-1 win at the City Ground last week.
Operating behind Chris Wood, the attacking trio of Nicolas Dominguez, Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White tormented the Red Devils all evening, the former scoring the opener and the latter bagging the winner.
No doubt Shaun Maloney will draw inspiration from the Tricky Trees ploy. Wigan’s supremo most frequently plays a 4-2-3-1 that mirrors the formation Nuno used but the Latics boss could also opt for a 3-4-3 with CALLUM LANG in a false nine and this could prove equally as potent.
Lang is particularly rampant in the third tier.
He has a healthy smattering of goals and assists this campaign, two of each, but in his previous two campaigns at this level he had a hand in 33 goals across 65 appearances for the Tics which makes for a G+A per 90 average of 0.48.
The attacking midfielder also has pedigree in this competition as a haul of five goals in 16 appearances shows, one of which coming for then League Two side Oldham against top flight Fulham in 2019.
Man Utd represent a severe jump in quality but at 20/1, his price TO SCORE FIRST looks irresistible, not least because Liverpudlian Lang will be as pumped as anyone to get one over the Mancunians.
You would have to go back to the beginning of December when the Red Devils last opened the scoring. Sluggish starts are becoming a hallmark of disinterested displays, Ten Hag’s side have only netted first in one of their last eight, failing to score in five of those fixtures.
BuildABet @ 225/1
- Wigan to win
- Callum Lang to score anytime
- Sam Tickle to be shown a card
Nothing is a given with this Manchester United side. They were close second favourites to win their Champions League group and finished rock bottom. They went to Galatasaray needing a win to keep their fate in their own hands and drew, then needed to beat Bayern Munich to stand any chance and lost. They might need a win on Monday but it certainly is not a given.
The romance of this competition will not be lost on Wigan manager Maloney either. He was in the side that lifted the trophy in 2013 and will be eyeing up another scalp on Monday.
Team news
The hosts have no fresh injury concerns which could see them field the same side that drew at Oakwell on New Year's Day.
Man Utd goalkeeper Andre Onana will feature for Manchester United. Boss Ten Hag says he is available for selection before he jets off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon later this month.
A similar side to the one that lost at Forest is to be expected from the visitors. Rasmus Hojlund is a doubt which could see Marcus Rashford lead the line. Although Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez are back training, Monday night's game comes too soon for the pair.
Predicted line-ups
Wigan: Tickle; Clare, Hughes, Morrison, Sessegnon; Shaw, Adeeko; Godo, Lang, Jones; Magennis
Manchester United: Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Evans, Dalot; Mainoo, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho, Rashford
Odds correct at 1215 GMT (05/01/24)
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