THE STRIKER: previews two FA Cup Fifth Round games on Thursday with extended stats and recommended BETDAQ bets. The action starts at 5.30pm with WOLVES v SOUTHAMPTON followed by BARNSLEY v CHELSEA at 8pm.
The Striker is a professional football punter who focused solely on football in the UK. He has over ten years of experience using exchanges and he’s been a full-time professional punter for more than five years. UK football is his edge and he sticks to it!
Thankfully The Striker has agreed to share his best bets with BETDAQ Tips! He will use a staking system between one and five points to give readers a clue as to how confident he is with each individual bet. He uses his own analysis to price up matches and loves advanced stats like xG, goal stats and current form.
WOLVES V SOUTHAMPTON
5.30pm We end the FA Cup Fifth Round on Thursday evening and we start with an all Premier League clash as Wolves host Southampton. After starting the season very strongly – even topping the table for a weekend – Southampton have slipped down the bottom half of the table after a poor run. They will welcome the change to the Cup after five straight losses in the Premier League since beating Liverpool 1-0. They were embarrassed with a 9-0 loss against Man United, but they did lose a man early and that was just a freak result. More worrying is conceding three goals to Newcastle and Arsenal on that five game run. They face an ”out of sorts” Wolves side this season, and it’s fair to say both these clubs would love a Cup run.
Wolves are having a terrible season as they sit down in 14th position in the Premier League. They were very poor when losing to Crystal Palace recently, but they did have a good week last week with a win against Arsenal and a draw against Leicester. Looking at the xG figures, Wolves have played well in their last two games and I feel this is a good chance to back them against a Southampton side who must be struggling for confidence. They are giving away too many goals and not taking their chances. There shouldn’t be much in this one and I’m happy to keep stakes small; but Wolves are worth backing at 2.5.
The Striker Says:
One point win Wolves to beat Southampton at 2.5 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQWolSth
MATCH STATS
- This will be the fifth FA Cup meeting between Wolves and Southampton, with each side winning twice in the previous four. Southampton won the last meeting 2-0 in March 2003, en route to reaching the final that season.
- Wolves have lost just one of their last 10 meetings with Southampton in all competitions (W5 D4), with their league meeting with Saints at Molineux this season ending 1-1.
- Wolves are looking to reach the FA Cup quarter-final for the second time in the last three seasons, having done so in just one of the previous 20 campaigns in the competition.
- Southampton knocked out holders Arsenal 1-0 in the last round – only once in the Premier League era have Saints eliminated top-flight opposition in consecutive rounds before, doing so in 2017-18 en route to the semi-final (Watford and West Brom).
- Wolves have won both of their FA Cup matches 1-0 this season, and are looking to keep three consecutive clean sheets in the competition for the first time since February 1976 (four in a row).
- Southampton’s last 10 FA Cup goals have been scored by different players, including an own goal in their victory against Arsenal in the fourth round.
BARNSLEY V CHELSEA
8pm We finish the Fifth Round with a massive favourite as Chelsea are trading as short as 1.34 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange to beat Barnsley. Chelsea continued their winning run since the sacking of Frank Lampard with another win at the weekend against Sheffield United. It wasn’t without drama however, and you couldn’t say they have dramatically improved since Lampard left. They should easily out class this Barnsley side however, just because of the gulf in class between the sides. Barnsley are a mid-table Championship, and although this is a massive fixture for them, it’s hard to see them giving Chelsea too much trouble.
Despite the fact I feel Chelsea will get the job done here, I wouldn’t be lumping on the 1.34. For me that looks about right and offers no real value. We should see some changes to the starting XI here too, and you won’t miss much by looking past the 1.34 and into the side markets. Looking at the Barnsley xG figures I can see why they are only mid-table in the Championship – they don’t create much going forward. I feel Chelsea can keep a clean sheet here as they have been reasonably solid since Lampard left. With likely changes, it’s a game for small stakes but Both Teams Not To Score is worth backing at 1.83.
The Striker Says:
One point win Both Teams Not To Score at 1.83 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQBrsChe
MATCH STATS
- Barnsley have won both of their FA Cup meetings with Chelsea, winning 4-0 in the third round in 1989 and 1-0 in the quarter-final in 2008.
- Chelsea have won four of their last five meetings with Barnsley in all competitions, including a 6-0 home win in the League Cup earlier this season.
- Since beating Liverpool (2-1) and Chelsea (1-0) en route to reaching the semi-final in 2007-08, Barnsley have lost their last five FA Cup ties against Premier League sides by an aggregate score of 2-15.
- Chelsea have been eliminated from just two of their last 54 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division, going out to Barnsley in 2007-08 and Bradford City in 2014-15.
- Barnsley have had 16 shots on target across their two FA Cup matches this season – only Liverpool (19) and Tottenham (18) have had more across the third and fourth rounds of the competition this term.
- Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham has had a hand in eight goals in his last six FA Cup starts (5 goals, 3 assists), netting a hat-trick in the last round against Luton Town.
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