Our best bets for the FA Cup fifth round include teams from the Championship who could cause problems for their Premier League opponents.
We have already reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, and there is a midweek schedule on the agenda, with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all in action.
Best Bets
Bournemouth v Leicester: Both teams to score
/
Leeds to win or draw v Chelsea
/
Liverpool to win and both teams to score v Southampton
/
Bournemouth v Leicester (Tuesday, 7.30pm)
Bournemouth will look to win their first match in five attempts when they welcome Championship outfit Leicester to the Vitality Stadium.
The Cherries are winless in the Premier League in seven matches, but recent wins in the FA Cup over Queens Park Rangers and Swansea have restored some confidence.
Andoni Iraola’s men have only kept three clean sheets in their previous 11 games in all competitions, which bodes well for Championship leaders Leicester.
The Foxes last failed to score in November, and with Iraola set to make changes, it could be an end-to-end battle on the south coast.
Chelsea v Leeds United (Wednesday, 7.30pm)
Leicester’s advantage at the top of the Championship table was reduced to six points on Friday night by Leeds, and Daniel Farke’s side will be confident of pushing Chelsea all the way this week.
Leeds have won nine straight games in the Championship, while they are unbeaten in 12 matches in all competitions.
While Leeds will have enjoyed a decent rest since their win over Leicester, Chelsea played 120 minutes against Liverpool before losing the EFL Cup final at Wembley, and Mauricio Pochettino’s side may struggle to get the job done within 90 minutes.
Liverpool v Southampton (Wednesday, 8pm)
After lifting the EFL Cup on Sunday, Liverpool will look to move one step closer to another trophy when they play host to Southampton at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s young squad got the job done at the national stadium, but they were missing some big names – with Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominic Szoboszlai all unavailable.
The Reds then lost Ryan Gravenberch to injury during the game, so they will be light on numbers when they welcome the promotion hopefuls to Merseyside.
Southampton have started to wobble recently, losing three of their last four, but they did manage to score in each of those defeats. The Saints have nothing to lose, and they will face a young Liverpool XI, so all signs suggest Russell Martin’s troops can find the back of the net.
Liverpool have not kept a clean sheet in their last nine at home, but they should have too much class in the end for Martin’s outfit.
