Our FA Cup fourth round treble for Saturday 25th January includes tips for Coventry v Birmingham, Newcastle v Oxford and Portsmouth v Barnsley with the odds boosted by @Olimp_SA
We had no joy with a Premier League treble last weekend with just 1 of the 3 legs arriving and our record now stands at 4 successful trebles from 10 attempts. FA Cup Round 4 is on our radar this week and we keep the same match result / over 2.5 goals and both teams to score format. All 3 legs take place on Saturday and the odds have been boosted to a tasty looking 10.50
Leg 1 Coventry v Birmingham City
First up, lets point out that although Coventry are the designated home side for this tie, the game is being played at St. Andrews, Birmingham and the clubs have agreed a 50/50 split of tickets so home advantage is pretty much nullified.
Coventry reached the fourth round after beating Bristol Rovers 3-0 in a third round replay. The first meeting in Bristol had finished 2-2 and a second round clash with Ipswich also went to a replay with Coventry drawing 1-1 at home and winning 2-1 away. Their cup run began with a 2-0 win at Colchester.
In League One Coventry are in very healthy fourth position with games in hand on the teams above them. Whilst not the highest of scorers, it's very rare that they fail to register at least 1 goal.
Birmingham entered the competition in Round 3 and they saw off fellow Championship side Blackburn with a 2-1 win at this venue. The Blues are in the bottom half of the Championship table and they have been involved in some high scoring matches this season including recent home games against Leeds (lost 5-4) and Wigan (lost 3-2). Their league games average a shade more than 3 goals per game and we are looking for that trend to continue.
Prediction: Over 2.5 goals
Leg 2 Newcastle v Oxford
We head north for leg 2 for Newcastle's home fixture against League 1 side Oxford.
Newcastle also faced League 1 opposition in the third round and they needed a replay to see off Rochdale (4-1) after the first meeting finished locked up at 1-1. A valuable home win over Chelsea last weekend was followed by a useful 2-2 draw at Everton in midweek, giving Newcastle a decent enough cushion over the teams in the relegation zone to suggest full focus should be on a cup run.
On League 1 form Oxford should provide a stiffer test for Newcastle than Rochdale did. They are n the play off places and with 43 goals scored they are the third highest scorers in that division. Oxford haven't been extended in reaching the third round but in the League Cup this season they can boast a 4-0 home win over West Ham as evidence of what they are capable of and they were from disgraced in losing 3-1 to Manchester City.
This is something of a speculative play as Newcastle ought to be up for this but if Rochdale can score home and away against the Geordies then Oxford should be capable of finding the net here
Prediction: Both teams to score
Leg 3 Portsmouth v Barnsley
That leaves us looking for a match result pick and whilst a other matches were considered, preference is for League 1 side Portsmouth to oust Barnsley of the Championship.
Pompey had a slow start to their season but they have started to string a useful looking sequence of results together. They have won their last 5 matches spanning 3 different competitions and League 1 home form is very solid with 8 wins, 5 draws and 0 defeats from 13 in front of their own supporters.
Our FA Cup Round 3 treble proved to be a winner and Barnsley were one of our picks for a trip to Crewe. Barnsley won that game 3-1 but we are ditching them for this round on the back of successive league defeats which see them third bottom in the Championship, 4 points from safety.
This looks a much tougher test for Barnsley than what they faced in the previous round and they might just come unstuck against one of the teams they pipped for promotion last season.
Prediction: Portsmouth to win
FA Cup Round 4 Treble Saturday 25th January
Coventry v Birmingham over 2.5 goals
Newcastle v Oxford both teams to score
Portsmouth to win (at home to Barnsley)
Click here to bet on the treble at enhanced odds of 10.50 with @Olimp_SA
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
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Remember a wide variety of fixed odds for all of this weekend's FA Cup matches are available here
