Back Cardiff and Watford to score over 2.5 goals tonight

Bet365 are offering 19/20 on a high-scoring game at Ninian Park

Tonight sees an intriguing battle between fortress and form side as Watford, the best team in the Championship over the last six games, travel to Cardiff, who have lost just twice at home in over a year.

Cardiff are unbeaten in eleven home games, of which they have won eight, but Watford have triumphed on each of their last three visits to the Welsh capital and haven’t lost in eight meetings with Dave Jones’ side. It’s difficult to back Brendan Rodgers’ side outright when the Bluebirds have been so impressive at home but you can cover both the draw and away win on the double chance at 1059/1000 with Ladbrokes.

Posted: March 18th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Statistics on all four televised FA Cup fifth round games

Will we see more Tic Tac adverts than goals this time around?

Fulham, Chelsea and Manchester United may be under pressure to avoid FA Cup giantkillings but that is nothing compared to the scrutiny ITV’s coverage will suffer following their Merseyside derby blunder. Here’s our guide to the four games that will be shown on TV, subject to further “technical problems”:

Swansea v Fulham (12.45pm, Saturday, ITV1)
The last time these two sides met in 1997, they were both competing in the fourth tier of English football. Despite not winning away from home in the league all season, Fulham have won on the road in the last two rounds of the FA Cup. However, Swansea are unbeaten in fifteen games, nine of which have been draws, so Fulham’s best chance might be to take the game to a replay. Three of the last five meetings between the two sides in Wales have finished 2-2, which is 16/1 on 888sport, while both sides won one each 2-1.

Watford v Chelsea (5.30pm, Saturday, Setanta Sports 1)
It’s Lampard versus Lampard at Vicarage Road this weekend as the Chelsea midfielder comes up against the team where his dad works as a football consultant for former Blues reserve manager Brendan Rodgers. Chelsea have failed to win either of their two previous FA Cup away games against Watford, drawing one and losing one. Even if that record ends, it could be worth betting on the visitors conceding for the eighth straight cup match. The Hornets have lost just three of their last ten home games and have only failed to fire in one of those. Bet365 offer evens on both teams scoring.

Everton v Aston Villa (2.30pm, Sunday, Setanta Sports 1)

Posted: February 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

The bottom three may be cast adrift by Watford tonight

Things will get even worse for Charlton and co if Norwich lose

Even though there are only two matches being played tonight in the Championship, both could prove pretty significant. Here are a few statistics about both fixtures:

Watford v Norwich
Fans of Doncaster, Nottingham Forest and Charlton will be hoping for a draw here when two of the three sides just above the bottom three collide at Vicarage Road. However, the stats suggest that Brendan Rodgers may pick up his first victory since taking charge of the Hornets. Watford are unbeaten in four meetings with Norwich, winning three of them and while Norwich won the “Old Farm” derby at the weekend, they have won consecutive Championship games just once since February and haven’t won away in London since April 2004. 888sport offer 23/10 on a home win.

Ipswich v Bristol City

Posted: December 10th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Watford 4/1 to complete a Championship hat-trick in tonight’s family showdown

Watford/Tottenham, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1, Best Odds, Free Bets

Brother-in-law meets brother-in-law tonight at Vicarage Road as former West Ham management duo Harry Redknapp and Frank Lampard Snr find themselves on opposite sides of the dugout. Last season’s Carling Cup winners Tottenham are the favourites but Watford have already taken one Premier League side out of the competition this season:

PREMIER LEAGUE 0 CHAMPIONSHIP 2
The first two Carling Cup quarter-finals saw Championship sides Burnley and Derby overcome Arsenal and Stoke. With Blackburn and Manchester United facing off in the other last eight clash there is definitely going to be one Premier League representative in the final four but will Watford win to replicate last season’s FA Cup, where three of the four semi-finalists were from the second tier?

QUARTER-FINAL RECORDS
Since 2002, Watford have won all three quarter-finals that they have participated in. Even more significantly, those campaigns - FA Cup 2002-03, Carling Cup 2004-05, FA Cup 2006-07 - have been on a two-year rotation system, meaning that they are due to reach the Carling Cup semi-finals in 2008-09. In comparison, Tottenham have lost six of their eight over that time, including two in the Carling Cup. In 2004-05 Harry Redknapp took Portsmouth to the quarter-finals where they were beaten 3-0 away to Watford, although he had resigned six days prior to the fixture.

Posted: December 3rd, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment