FA Cup and Premier League Multiple: Trying for a treble

FA Cup / Mike Norman / 06 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

"Mystical" Mike Norman consults his crystal ball in a bid to find a winning treble across this weekend's FA Cup matches and sole Premier League encounter....

Guus Hiddink is proving at Chelsea that you don't have to be a good manager to win games, you just have to be a lucky one. Four wins out of four, all by a single goal margin, and two by virtue of late goals has seen the Blues emerge as serious challengers for major honours once again. What's more, the spirit in the team (that was so evidently lacking under Phil Scolari) appears to be back and Didier Drogba is a happy striker once again.

All this has come at precisely the wrong time for Coventry City, who have the onerous task of condemning Hiddink to his first defeat in English football when the two sides meet in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Sky Blues have done brilliantly at the Ricoh Arena of late, beating promotion challengers Wolves and Birmingham in the league, and edging past Premier League side Blackburn in the cup. But facing Chelsea is an altogether far more difficult challenge and I rate the Londoners banker material to progress to the semi-final.

Take Chelsea to beat Coventry City to get your weekend treble off to a flyer.

Tottenham's season reminds me a lot of Del Boy's three-wheeled van - soon after it hits top gear (which isn't that impressive, granted) it usually comes to a shuddering halt. So after back-to-back wins in the Premier League, the halt can be expected to come sooner rather than later, though I think there is just about enough petrol left in the tank to secure another three points against Sunderland.

Aaron Lennon is arguably in the best form of his Spurs career, Luka Modric is looking more and more top class as every game passes, and Roman Pavlyuchenko and Robbie Keane showed enough against Middlesbrough to suggest they can form a great partnership.

Sunderland's home form will be crucial as the season-end approaches and I think that will add extra pressure to a team that relies heavily on their defence. If they can keep a clean sheet then they are always likely to pinch a goal at the other end, but against Spurs I can see them conceding a few at least.

Take Tottenham to beat Sunderland in this weekend's only Premier League fixture.

If you get through Saturday unscathed and are relying on Arsenal to land your treble then there is always the option of laying the Gunners at [1.51] to guarantee you a profit.

However, I would argue that Arsenal should be a [1.25] shot to beat Burnley in Sunday's FA Cup fifth round tie, but the fact that they haven't scored at the Emirates in three Premier League fixtures has tainted many people's confidence in the Gunners. Burnely are no Premier League outfit, have had a long, hard season, and will do wonders to shut out an Arsenal team that could feature the returning duo Theo Walcott and Eduardo, who have been out injured recently.

Arsene Wenger's men had enough chances in those goalless draws, and in the games against Roma and West Brom recently, to win a whole season's worth of games. They surely won't go another 90 minutes without scoring, especially as they know that winning the FA Cup is their only chance of domestic silverware this season.

Take Arsenal to be too strong for Burnley and exact revenge for their Carling Cup defeat earlier in the season.

A recap of my bets:

Back Chelsea @ 1.53
Back Tottenham @ 2.52
Back Arsenal @ 1.47

Treble pays approximately [5.7].