Holders Arsenal travel to Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday lunchtime. Joe Rindl has a preview and best bets.
The FA Cup is a competition Arsenal have always taken seriously. The 14-time winners - who have lifted the trophy more times than any other club - have a fantastic recent Cup history, triumphing at Wembley in four of the past seven seasons.
Crucially, they don’t seem to slack when given tougher draws.
Including finals, the Gunners have won their past five FA Cup ties against Premier League opposition. It's a run that has seen them beat big guns Chelsea and Manchester City last term and Newcastle United in this year’s third round.
Mikel Arteta may have made seven changes to the side that edged out Newcastle after extra-time, but that game arrived shortly after Arsenal’s recent dip in form, when the Spaniard was still tweaking tactics and line-ups.
Although I do see them making changes in this match, I still think the Gunners will retain enough firepower to beat Southampton, whose focus could well be on the Premier League and targeting a Europa League spot.
Indeed, the Saints have often rested players in knockout competitions under Ralph Hasenhuttl, a case in point when they lost 2-0 to Championship side Brentford in the EFL Cup back in September.
So with Arsenal likely to go all out for a win, and Southampton content to rotate, I think the 15/2 Sky Bet offer on Arsenal to win both halves is really worth a poke.
I’m also tempted by Arsenal to win by two goals at 13/2 (Sky Bet) - in four of their last six games Arteta’s side have won by at least that margin.
In Arsenal’s last match against Newcastle I successfully tipped the Gunners to keep a clean sheet at evens and to win to nil at 11/8. The only blip was Bukayo Saka to score first at 8/1. The teenager instead scored second.
If he starts, Saka again represents a nice outside bet. At 10/1 with both Boyle Sports and Genting Bet he has longer odds than Che Adams (7/1, general) and Dan N'Lundulu (17/2, general) despite the latter only having one career start for the Saints.
Left-back turned left-wing-back turned winger turned central midfielder, Saka has been the Gunners' best and most reliable player for several months now.
He has scored in three of his past six matches and regularly goes for goal - no Arsenal player has had more shots per game this season than the 19-year-old England international.
Score prediction: Southampton 1-3 Arsenal (Sky Bet odds: 20/1)
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