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4th Feb 2020 | FA Cup

Magpies' Mental Block

Newcastle haven't reached the 5th round of the FA Cup since 2006 - a year before Mike Ashley arrived at the club. Steve Bruce has done pretty well but Oxford United have demonstrated recent ability to beat Premier League sides, and Newcastle, at the Kassam Stadium.

No club has the capacity to infuriate their fans even from the jaws of a successful season quite like Newcastle Utd. Ostensibly things are going quite well; a comfortable 12th in the Premier League, unbeaten in seven across all competitions and with a good shot at making the 5th Round of the FA Cup.

And yet, Mike Ashley still casts a chunky shadow over St James’s Park. On the pitch there is also a worrying lack of goals. Consecutive 0-0 home draws with Norwich City and tonight’s opponents Oxford United are not what the Toon Army showed up in their droves for.

Remarkably, Newcastle have won just 1 of their last 17 away FA Cup games. It’s a psychological hang-up and in this context it makes sense to back Oxford at best odds of 16/5 with BetFair.

The Us are an accomplished League One side who would be much higher than 8th if it wasn’t for a very slow start to the season. They thumped West Ham 4-0 here in the Carabao Cup and the Magpies lost 3-0 on this ground as recently as 2017.

Oxford have lost some key players to injury and January sales, but Marcus Browne has re-signed and will fancy this one after bagging a match-winning brace on Saturday.

1pt Oxford to win 16/5 with Betfair
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Odds correct at time of publishing: 08:21 4th Feb, 2020 but subject to change