FA Cup Betting: Crystal Palace v Wolverhapton Wanderers

FA Cup / Dan Fitch / 01 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

Palace will be looking for some fighting spirit from Darren Ambrose.

Recommended Bets: Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.8; Back Ambrose to score first @ 9.0; Back 1-1 @ 5.9.

Everything is going wrong for Crystal Palace, but Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch thinks that they will rise to the occasion to take Wolves into extra time, in this FA Cup fourth round replay. Best Bet: Back under 2.5 goals @ [1.8].

Everyone needs a little escapism in their life, whether it's Eastenders, clubbing on a Saturday night or World of Warcraft.

For football clubs, a spot of escapism often takes the form of an FA Cup run. If things aren't going well in the day-to-day reality of the league, then a cup run can often boost morale and keep a smile on everyone's face.

If any club needed a bit of a lift right now, it's Crystal Palace. Having been hovering just outside of the play off zone, they went into administration on Tuesday and were deducted 10 points. The result was that they now sit in twentieth position in the Championship, just 4 points clear of the relegation zone.

To make matters worse, their star player Victor Moses, who had been linked with a multi-million move to the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid, has just joined Wigan for a paltry £2.5m.

So all in all it's not been a great week for Palace, which is why they'll be desperate to defeat Wolves in their fourth round replay at Selhurst Park and book a home tie in the fifth round against Aston Villa, in front of the ITV cameras.

Neil Warnock's side came close to defeating Wolves at Molineux, twice taking the lead, only to be pegged back for a 2-2 draw. Despite their off-field problems, Palace are in reasonable form at the moment, having suffered just a single defeat (away at Newcastle) from their last 8 games.

Wolves also had to twice come from behind, to earn another 2-2 draw with Hull on Saturday. This was Wolves' third successive draw and extended their run without a win to 9 games, since pulling off a surprise away victory at Tottenham.

The main problem that Mick McCarthy's team suffer from is an inability to score goals. They have scored just 19 this season, which along with Stoke and Portsmouth, is the lowest total in the Premier League.

Despite having lost Moses, Palace still have their top scorer at the club. The former Newcastle and Charlton attacking midfielder Darren Ambrose, has scored 14 goals this season.

When the goalscorer markets open on Betfair closer to kick off, expect Ambrose to be priced at around [9.0] to score first and [4.0] to net anytime. For Wolves, their top scorer Kevin Doyle is likely to be around [7.0] to open the scoring and [3.0] to score anytime.

Under 2.5 goals starts as the favourite at [1.8], with over 2.5 goals at [2.1]. With Wolves lacking goals and Palace selling key players on deadline day, then unders looks likely.

It's pretty hard to be specific regarding team news, as pretty much everyone is up for sale at Palace at the moment. As well as Moses, Neil Danns and Nathaniel Clyne have been linked with moves and could have left before the deadline. Wolves will be without the injured Maierhofer, Keogh and Kightly.

The match odds are very tight, with Palace and Wolves both at [2.63] and the draw at [3.25]. There isn't much liquidity in the To Qualify market yet, but expect both teams to be evenly matched there at just under the evens mark.

I quite fancy this one going into extra time, with 0-0 available at [7.8] and 1-1 at [5.9]. Palace/Draw will be available at around [16.5], with Wolves/Draw at [16.0].

With a tough game against Aston Villa awaiting the winner, Wolves are available at [90.0] to win the FA Cup, with Palace at [320.0].