English FA CUP
2010-11-05 - Rochdale vs United of Manchester
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football : England : FA Cup 1st Round
Friday 5th November 2010 – Kickoff 7.45pm
The magic of the FA Cup is once again upon us, and the opening fixture of the 1st round proper sees League One Rochdale pit their wits against Northern League Premier Division outfit "FC United of Manchester" (FCUM) - NOT to be confused with a certain other Man Utd - at the Spotland Stadium ground on Friday night.
Rochdale will be hoping for better weather tomorrow night following midweek's derby clash against Oldham Athletic was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch after only 6 minutes.
Rochdale
(13th League One)
Rochdale have started life in League One in steady fashion without setting the world on fire. They currently sit mid-table which at this point of the season would be ticking all the boxes as far as the board & fans expectations go.
Their home league form sits at 3-2-2 11/8, their three wins coming over Walsall 3-2, a good 3-0 result over Huddersfield Town & 3-2 over Dagenham & Redbridge. They have plenty of firepower up their sleeve too in the shape of forwards Chris O’Grady (5 goals) and Anthony Elding (3 goals), along with midfielders Gary Jones (5 goals) & Jason Kennedy (3 goals).
Eight players have made at least one assist, while injured forward Louis Akpa Akpro sat out the midweek local derby against Oldham Athletic, could be in contention again for Friday night.
FC United of Manchester
(15th in Northern Premier League Premier Division)
Dale's opponents on Friday are a bit of an unknown quantity, but they won't be taken lightly as the Manchester side are more than capable of scoring goals.
FCUM have won two of their last three away matches; 2-0 at Burscough & 3-0 away at Ossett Town, and have drawn a blank only twice in their twelve league matches so far.
For the record, the away stats for FC United of Manchester read 3-0-3 8/7, while their average goals per match is at 3.42.
As FC United of Manchester play in the 7th tier of the English footballing pyramid, it's taken four previous games to get to the first round proper ;
- W 3-0 v Radcliffe Borough
- W 2-1 v Gainsborough Trinity
- W 5-2 v Norton & Stockton Ancients
- W 1-0 v Barrow (Conference)
That's 11 goals in four FA Cup qualifying rounds.
The Betting Verdict :
As we all know by now, league form goes out of the window when it comes to the Cup so my tip will not be concentrating on a straight winner (the odds are way too low for Rochdale, while I just can't see the non-league team progressing any further).
I considered the Over 2.5 Goals option but again the odds were too low (around 1.60 mark), so instead I’ve decided to take attractive odds of both teams scoring.
BEST BETTING TIP :
Pick: Take Both teams to score @ 1.83 with bet365Side Bet : Consider 2nd half more goals @ 1.95 with bet365 – as Rochdale's fitness should tell as the match progresses
