FA Cup Betting: Swansea win was no shock

FA Cup / Mike Norman / 26 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Superb Nathan Dyer may have sent through top tips Swansea at the expense of the holders but, with the Big Four all in the hat for the last 16, it seems unlikely that this year's FA Cup will provide as many upsets as last year's, says Mike Norman.

When the supposed 'shock' of FA Cup round four wasn't actually that big of a shock (well not to old big head here) it goes to show how well the big boys did against their inferior rivals over the weekend.

Manchester United saw off a not-so-weak Tottenham, Chelsea eased past Ipswich, Aston Villa and Arsenal did enough to become huge favourites to qualify to round five, West Ham overcame lowly Hartlepool, and Fulham and Coventry eventually triumphed over their non-league opposition. Not a shock in sight... well, not unless you're a Portsmouth fan that is.

Pompey's defeat at home to Swansea is being perceived as the surprise result of round four, but merely because all the other results went somewhere near to form. On closer inspection, Portsmouth are a team at the wrong end of the table in the Premier League and are without a win in six games. Swansea on the other hand are hot on the heels of a play-off place in the Championship and had gone eight away games without defeat prior to Saturday's FA Cup tie. As I said in my preview column, Swansea were well worth a bet in this one.

First half goals from Nathan Dyer and Jason Scotland sealed victory for Swansea, meaning for Pompey fans the defeat was that little harder to swallow with the knowledge that the superb Dyer is on loan from their arch rivals Southampton.

Swansea are available to back at [110.0] to win the FA Cup, and have been rewarded with a home tie to Premier League side Fulham ([29.0]) in round five.

Fulham only avoided becoming the real shock of round four by scoring two late goals against non-league side Kettering Town. Kettering officials pleaded with the TV companies to televise their game, even offering to waive the £160,000 fee owed to them if the game was screened live. Predictably though, their pleas fell on deaf ears as ITV and Setanta decided to show games that involved the likes of Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Spurs amongst others.

It was great then, to hear how Kettering and Fulham played out arguably the most entertaining match of the round with drama right to the end. Simon Davies first half volley was a sublime piece of skill, the action was end-to-end, the atmosphere was fantastic and the result was in doubt until the 89th minute. What a shame ITV and Setanta decided to go elsewhere.

My own idea of the performance of the round, if not the shock of the round, was Doncaster Rover's excellent showing against high-flying Aston Villa.

Most people, including myself, expected Villa to steamroll their opposition on Saturday, but gritty Donnie put in a pulsating performance and rattled the Villa cross-bar on two occasions from Martin Woods' long range efforts. However, man of the match, and my choice for man of the round (just ahead of Nathan Dyer) was the veteran goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, who rolled back the years to produce some fine saves throughout the game.

Villa are now available to back at [17.5] to lift the cup, but face an extremely difficult task away to either Everton [22.0] or Liverpool [9.8] in round five if seeing off Doncaster [1000.0] in their replay.

Liverpool and Everton played out their second 1-1 draw within a week, and their fourth round replay will be just as difficult to call as the games that went before it. Arsenal [6.0] were another side to be held to a draw, though their replay against Cardiff [310.0] should be little more than a formality.

With Chelsea [4.9] to lift the cup and Manchester United [4.1] winning, it did mean that all of the 'Big 4' were in the hat for round five. In the Big 4 v The Field market you can back the Big 4 at just [1.36], but be warned, it was in round five last year that they began to fall away. The Field is available to back at [3.1].

Elsewhere there were wins for Hull [40.0], Sheff Utd [85.0], Coventry [210.0], Watford [370.0], Middlesbrough [46.0] and West Ham [22.0], whilst Derby [360.0] and Notts Forest [320.0], West Brom [130.0] and Burnley [330.0], and Sunderland [50.0] and Blackburn [42.0] must all replay to see who reaches the next round.

As for the goal of round four there can only be one winner can't there? That Simon Davies volley was special, as too was Michael Ballack's free-kick and Afonso Alves' deft finish. But take a bow Frank Lampard, who produced a spectacular free-kick from all of 30/35/40/45 yards (delete as appropriate depending on which newspaper you've read). It was a bit Cristiano Ronaldo-esque in the way the ball moved around in the air and dipped late on, but it was a truly magnificent effort and one that you and I should never grow tire of seeing. You can see the goal here.