FA Cup Accumulator

Having tried to pick out a few potential upsets, the other option is to back certain top flight clubs to overcome some tough assignments. Taking Fulham, Sunderland and Stoke all to win against Championship teams seems appealing at best odds of nearly 11/1 with BetVictor.

Pundits frequently point to the fact that Premier League sides see the FA Cup as an opportunity to rest key players. This assessment often overlooks a couple of pretty obvious other things. Firstly, squad rotation is something that managers like to do in the Cup even outside of the top flight. Furthermore, the elite clubs have far more depth of talent so their ‘second teams’ are still going to be relatively strong.

Fulham look the best bet of all when they entertain Blackpool. The Cottagers had a morale-boosting victory away to WBA last time out while Blackpool are winless in four in the second tier.

Next up we have Sunderland to go to Bolton and win after recent victories over Reading, Southampton and most notably Manchester City. Yes they’ve lost to Spurs and Liverpool since then, but the Trotters are not approaching that level. In fact Dougie Freedman’s boys have slumped to defeat three times in their last four in the Championship.

Finally, I’m taking Freedman’s old team, Crystal Palace, to come unstuck against Stoke. The Eagles may be flying high in the Championship but then again the Potters are the best of the three Premier League teams we’re backing. Tony Pulis may say otherwise, but ambitions extend beyond simply avoiding relegation at the Britannia Stadium these days.

Stoke are established in mid-table which means that a Cup run is an important target for the season. The Potters have made at least the quarter finals for three years running while Palace haven’t gone beyond round three since 2010.

Martin Jol, Martin O’Neill and Tony Pulis would all relish a trip to Wembley and the journey could start for at least one of them on Saturday.

*Exact price at time of article was 10.93/1.