Tom Hill's selections for this weekend's four FA Cup quarter-final ties include a win for Crystal Palace at Fulham and Manchester City to see off Bournemouth.
Seven Premier League sides and Championship battlers Preston North End are the eight teams left standing going into FA Cup quarter-final weekend.
Only 2/1 favourites Manchester City of the surviving eight have lifted the trophy in the last 66 years, while four of the quarter-finalists have never won the FA Cup at all. It looks wide open and we have a football betting tip from each of the last-eight ties.
Selections
Crystal Palace to win @ 2/1
Brighton v Nottm Forest – Matz Sels 4+ Saves @ 6/4
Aston Villa win & Under 3.5 Goals @ 5/4
Manchester City to win @ 5/4
Fulham vs Crystal Palace (Saturday, 12:15)
Quarter-final weekend kicks off with a London derby between two of the four teams who have never won the FA Cup, Fulham and Palace.
Both are mid-division in the Premier League so they can chuck everything at this, and both are in good form.
Palace have won nine of their last 11, including a 2-0 win at Fulham a month ago, where they had five shots on target to Fulham’s none.
Oliver Glasner’s men have won more points away than at home, which makes them a tempting 2/1 chance in 90 minutes.
Brighton vs Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 17:15)
The last time these sides met – albeit at the City Ground – Forest won 7-0, but Brighton are 4/5 to turn the tables at their Amex fortress.
Albion are unbeaten in seven since that spanking in Nottingham though Forest are third in the table and show no signs of fading away.
They average over 15 shots every home game, while Forest, famous for soaking up the pressure, appear happy to concede over 14 every away match.
Fabian Hurzeler’s men are piling up the shots – they had 15, more than Man City in a 2-2 draw at The Etihad last time out – and can test Forest keeper Matz Sels at least four times.
Preston North End vs Aston Villa (Sunday, 13:30)
Former winners Preston and Villa meet for the first time in seven years and expect it to be fiery.
You have to go back 17 years for the last time North End toppled a top-flight opponent in the FACup, though their 3-0 drubbing of Premier League club-in-waiting Burnley in the last round was a statement.
North End top the Championship cards table – exactly 100, including five reds – and are competitive, as illustrated by 19 draws this season, including at home to Fulham in the League Cup.
Villa, though, are a Champions League quarter-finalist as well as an FA Cup one, and that’s the level North End are up against.
None of Preston’s last 16 matches have produced over three goals, so take Villa to win a low-scoring game efficiently.
Bournemouth vs Manchester City (Sunday, 16:30)
Bournemouth beat City 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium in November, but there is a feeling that maybe they have just pinched themselves and reality has set in.
Talk of European football next season at Bournemouth has coincided with an indifferent run of results, and they haven’t won any of their last four games at home.
This is City’s last chance of silverware and at a price that would have been unthinkable just a few months back, they get the nod.
