Jurgen Klopp and Alan Pardew have a bit of previous
Jurgen Klopp and Alan Pardew have a bit of previous

Free football betting tips and odds: Saturday action in the fourth round of the FA Cup


Matt Brocklebank's FA Cup banker has already gone in - find out what his other two selections are on fifth-round Saturday.

Recommended bets: Saturday FA Cup fourth round

5pts over 2.5 goals in Peterborough v Leicester at 8/11

1pt Coventry to beat MK Dons at 13/5

1pt West Brom/Draw in Double Chance market v Liverpool at 11/4

For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record

Saturday's three TV games previewed by Matt Brocklebank and Nick Hext looks at the rest of the action...

Peterborough United v Leicester City (1230 GMT, BT Sport 2)

Leicester needed a replay and VAR intervention to get the better of Fleetwood Town in the third round but that's probably an over-dramatisation of a fairly straightforward victory for the Premier League side in the second leg.

Kelechi Iheanacho's brace - the first of which was initially chalked off for offside before the video stepped in - saw a relatively strong Foxes side home and it was encouraging to see them back that up with another 2-0 win over Watford at the King Power last weekend.

Overall it's been a really positive start to Claude Puel's reign and although everything has to be kept in perspective given what happened here a couple of years ago, they now look pretty much at home as the seventh best side in the country.

It's five clean sheets on the bounce now though it's likely the fast-improving Harry Maguire will be rested again for this one ahead of a big clash with Everton - who are keen on that 'seventh best in the country' claim themselves - in midweek.

Riyad Mahrez didn't play in the first game against Fleetwood and there'd be some concerns over Leicester as 8/13 favourites if he's not in the starting XI but the temptation is to go for goals at the ABAX Stadium.

Former Posh stalwart Grant McCann has instilled an attacking philosophy since taking over the reins and this season they've outscored all bar three sides in League One.

In Jack Marriott they have the division's leading marksman but rather than take him to get on the scoresheet I'd be more inclined to side with 'overs' in the total goals betting.

Prediction: Peterborough 2-3 Leicester (Sky Bet: 22/1)


Pick of the 1500 GMT kick-offs

Nine matches get under way in the fourth round of the FA Cup at 1500 GMT on Saturday.

There isn’t much that catches my eye from a punting perspective but I do want to take an interest in Sky Bet League Two promotion contenders Coventry to spring a minor surprise by winning at MK Dons of League One.

The Sky Blues sit sixth in the fourth tier, two points off an automatic promotion place ahead of the weekend, and 13/5 is a tempting price against the struggling Dons.

Former England Under-16s manager Dan Micciche has been appointed boss of the Stadium MK outfit after former Hearts chief Robbie Neilson was shown the door in the midst of a prolonged period of bad form.

The Dons sit in the League One relegation zone and they can’t be taken as heavy favourites against a team with the quality to really stretch them.

Coventry have won seven of their last 10 games and this is the chance to back the Sky Blues to build on their memorable success at home to Stoke in the third round.

Celebrations for Coventry
Celebrations for Coventry

West Ham are tempting at over 2/1 to win at Sky Bet League One leaders Wigan. The Hammers have improved under David Moyes but they were pushed all the way by Shrewsbury in the last round and this is another tricky encounter.

I also had a similar fancy for Bournemouth in their third-round replay at Wigan but that tip came undone as the Cherries were easily dispatched 3-0.

Notts County have hit a rocky run of form ahead of Swansea’s trip to Meadow Lane.

The Swans are on a high after winning 1-0 at home to Liverpool on Monday night but boss Carlos Carvalhal will surely change up his starting XI for this clash against the Sky Bet League Two contenders.

County are better than back-to-back defeats against Exeter and Crawley suggests so a replay is far from out of the question.

There’s no temptation for me in the other six matches with Middlesbrough’s price too short to win at home to Brighton.


Newport County v Tottenham (1730 GMT, BT Sport 2)

Rodney Parade may not be quite what it used to be but it's still bound to take a little while for the majority of the Tottenham players to fully get to grips with a pitch also used by rugby union outfit Dragons.

Belief is everything when it comes to giant killing and after just avoiding relegation at the end of last season it seems Newport are full of it as they currently sit on the cusp of the play-off places in Sky Bet League Two.

Quite whether they've got enough in the tank to mount a serious promotion charge come the end of the year remains to be seen but they're riding the crest of a wave at the moment with wins over Walsall, Cambridge and the Championship's Leeds in this competition. Michael Flynn's side have only lost once in a dozen games in all competitions since the end of November.

However, Leeds made wholesale changes in the third round and while it doesn't take the greatest imagination to see them troubling Tottenham through the early exchanges, Spurs are not expected to slip up.

They cruised past AFC Wimbledon thanks in part to a Harry Kane brace at Wembley and it'll be a tall order for Newport if the world-class striker is turned out again.

Mauricio Pochettino could look to rest the main man with Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus to come straight after this trip to South Wales, but it's unlikely the visitors will hold back their three or four big hitters.

Spurs have actually made light work of lower-league opposition in recent years. They were pushed close when down to 10 men in a 4-3 win over Wycombe last term but comfortably accounted for Aston Villa (2-0), Fulham (3-0) and Millwall (6-0) in the same campaign while the year before it was Colchester who got a beating (4-1).

Recent evidence has been encouraging despite Spurs slipping off the pace in the Premier League before Christmas and Pochettino won't allow any let-up in the intensity, no matter how many changes or how challenging the playing surface may be on Saturday.

Prediction: Newport 1-3 Tottenham (Sky Bet's odds: 9/1)


Liverpool v West Brom (1945 GMT, BT Sport 2)

It's the FA Cup, it's Liverpool at home against a side they're supposed to beat, and just about anything could unfold, which obviously makes things quite tricky if you're having a bet.

Unlike Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham, Liverpool haven't exactly covered themselves in glory against lesser sides in this competition over the past few years.

Last term, it was Wolves who did for them on this ground after needing a replay to safely negotiate Plymouth in round three. The year before they needed two games to beat Exeter before losing to West Ham in a replay, while in 2015 (admittedly under Brendan Rodgers) there was a laboured replay with Bolton, another replay to beat Blackburn and a semi-final defeat to Aston Villa.

The Reds are most probably a better, more settled side right now than they have been for a while and the addition of Virgil van Dijk is bound to have a knock-on effect and help others play with a little more confidently, at the back at least.

Virgil van Dijk celebrates his late winner against Everton
Virgil van Dijk celebrates his late winner against Everton

Van Dijk's impact on his debut in the third round was immense but it's going to be difficult to replicate the atmosphere of that night in what looks a fairly uninspiring tie on paper.

As touched upon in earlier previews, with the Premier League back in full swing on Tuesday and Wednesday predicting the teams this weekend is pretty pointless but there is bound to be significant rotation with Dominic Solanke and a fairly rusty-looking Adam Lallana among those likely to start.

Backing Liverpool, therefore, strikes as a particularly futile exercise not least because they're 1/3 favourites and the blueprint from this fixture in the league just last month dictates we may be in for a long night.

It was a pretty drab event that day as the Baggies worked hard across the lines for a deserved goalless draw, but it's not hard to envisage more of the same and if pushed hard enough I'd side with the draw again in the match market at 5/1.

Seeing as West Brom have found their stride in front of goal in recent weeks, I'm not willing to discard the prospect of a surprise win here and that slightly cautious mindset leads me to the double chance market in which Liverpool not winning looks pretty backable at 11/4.

They've come up short in six of their 17 matches in all competitions at Anfield this campaign. That bare statistic alone doesn't exactly make the price scream value, but this is exactly the sort of game in which they could be caught out with an eye on next week and that desperation to remain in the top four in the league.

Prediction: Liverpool 1-1 West Brom (Sky Bet's odds: 17/2)

Posted at 1250 GMT on 26/01/17.

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