ENGLISH FA CUP BETTING PICK - FULHAM V CHARLTON ATHLETIC

English FA CUP

2012-01-07 - Fulham vs Charlton Athletic

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

FULHAM v CHARLTON ATHLETIC
Football : England : FA Cup
Saturday, January 7th, 2012, 5:30PM GMT

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PREVIEW

Fulham have had long enough to recover from that crazy first match of the season when they hosted and beat Arsenal 2-1. Something tells me Martin Jol will be prepared for Charlton, as they look to avoid a letdown.

Fulham are very good on their own patch, and even though Charlton are doing well in League 1, this is a jump in class and quality of opposition. With a shrewd manager at the helm, Fulham is not an easy place to go and win. Just ask the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Fulham will be shorn of the services of striker Andy Johnson, but there is a bigger problem for Charlton, who are missing their goalkeeper Ben Hamer, through suspension. Anyone who watched the Fulham v Arsenal game will have seen that Fulham are well equipped to exploit any weakness or holes in the opposition, be it through a man advantage, or poor play in any position, especially in defence. The other thing you're guaranteed of, is a strong committed effort for the duration of the match. The mentality Fulham have is exactly what I like in teams I am betting on.

Charlton are without Hamer because he was sent off on NYE at Leyton Orient. Orient capitalised within 20 mins of the sending off to score and beat Charlton 1-0 and that is what I see causing them problems here.

Charlton have also looked a bit shaky in away games, with the match before Leyton seeing them ship 2 goals (although they scored 3, which they won't do against Fulham's defence). Walsall too held them to a draw when they travelled so a bet against Charlton is very much the only option as far as I'm concerned.

BETTING VERDICT

I'm not going to go with Fulham to clear any big handicaps as they might well win by just 1 goal. I'll suggest taking Fulham to clear the 1 goal handicap here just in case they come through late with a goal to make things safe, although the win looks nailed on to me.

The Pick :