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HUTCHO'S SUNDAY HUNCH |
Betrescue's Chris Hutcheon gives his predictions on all the live TV matches in the UK every Sunday, in Hutcho's Sunday Hunch.
Newcastle’s midweek defeat to Manchester City, their third reverse in a row, turned up the heat on boss Sam Allardyce who is now odds on at 8/13 with VCBet to be the next top flight manager out of a job. The increasing pressure on the Magpies and their manager means some pundits are now forecasting a mini-upset at the Britannia Stadium in Newcastle’s FA Cup third round clash against Stoke, Partybets’ 11/5 outsiders, and Allardyce is well aware that the hosts will fancy their chances.
However, the Magpies boss also rightly suggests that this is a game in which the pressure of the league is relieved, and Newcastle can kickstart their ailing campaign in the Potteries, by justifying the 5/4 favouritism they possess with Betfred; making this clash something of a red herring in terms of a cup shock.
Nevertheless the contrasting form of the pair means a close encounter appears inevitable and punters could therefore do worse than give further consideration to a 1-0 or 2-1 away win; results VCBet and Blue Square quote at 6/1 and 9/1 respectively. Alternatively, for those seeking to be less specific a Magpies triumph by a one-goal margin is on offer at a generous 3/1 with bet365.
Elsewhere, Sportingbet chalk a tasty 9/2 against a victory for Allardyce’s beleaguered troops coming on the back of a drawn first half, the tricky Charles N’Zogbia seems somewhat overpriced at 14/1 (betdirect) to open the scoring and Michael Owen, who is returning to full fitness and may start on the bench, jumps from the page at 15/8 (Coral.co.uk) to net at any stage.
At Turf Moor, fewer pundits are sensing a big-name casualty as Arsenal take on Burnley. Arsene Wenger is likely to rest a few first team players but as we have seen many times before, the Gunners youngsters are more than capable of going on a cup run. Subsequently, Arsenal are fully worthy of Betdaq’s quote of 2/5 for them to progress at the expense of a Clarets outfit without a win in six.
Wenger’s troops can dominate their Championship opponents by taking a lead in at both the interval and the final whistle (evens, Canbet) and they can probably also afford to give the hosts a goal start in the handicaps, where betdirect price the Gunners at 11/10 to come out on top despite having that hurdle to overcome.
Slick Croatian marksman Eduardo, who has netter five times in his last three games, is the man that can do the damage for the visitors and bet365 could therefore pay the price for chalking him up at 5/1 to notch the opener and at 13/8 to find the target at any time.
Despite the absence of Steven Gerrard meanwhile, Liverpool should emerge unscathed from the day’s other televised clash, at Canbet’s 11/1 underdogs Luton, where Rafa Benitez’s men are banker material at 4/11 (Betdaq).
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