Wigan & Charlton need to be more than Athletic to progress in the Cup

This weekend sees the 3rd round of the FA Cup & the competition has plenty of exciting matches both between minnows & giants & some real heavyweights matching up, we've looked at the Saturday matches to find the best bets available & think we've got some bankers & a potential upset on our hands.

(Billy Sharp is looking to take his goalscoring form into the FA Cup)

At the Keepmoat, Doncaster Rovers entertain Notts County in the FA Cup 3rd round. Doncaster sit one place off the bottom of the Championship whilst visitors Notts County are 11th in League One. The Rovers have struggled this season hence their current league position but have a reasonable home record with four victories & four draws in their 12 games. At home they have beaten league leaders Southampton, Leicester, Crystal Palace & Barnsley and they are unbeaten in their last four with one draw & three wins on the bounce. Notts County are in poor form currently with only five points in their last 8 league games. On the road they have been defeated eight times out of 13 matches & have lost their last five in a row; conceding 11 goals in the process. We expect Doncaster with hot shot Billy Sharp, who has 10 league goals so far, to be too strong for Notts County & progress to Round 4 at the best price of 21/20 with Victor Chandler.

(Will the passionate Paulo Di Canio be celebrating a cup surprise over Premiership opposition?)

Everyone likes an upset in the FA Cup & we believe there is the potential at The County Ground with Paulo Di Canio's Swindon Town taking on Premiership side Wigan Athletic. Di Canio has had his moments in the competition as a player; most notably scoring the winner at Old Trafford for West Ham United & can continue his success as a manager. The Robins are in very good current form with five wins from eight & have only suffered defeat once in their last 13 league games. At home it's even better with eight wins from 11 league games & have won their last three. They are full of confidence & this is indicated with goals aplenty throughout the side with five players having scored five or more in all competitions. Visitors Wigan have already been knocked out of the League Cup to lower league opposition this season & their focus is likely to be on their impending relegation scrap than a long cup run. They have lost six of their ten league away games & have only kept one clean sheet whilst conceding 21 goals in the process. We feel that Swindon have the firepower capable of springing a surprise at the expense of Wigan & are worth a punt at the price of 11/5 with SkyBet & Paddy Power.

(Bryan Ruiz has grown into the English game & is 'looking forward' to his first FA Cup game)

We're big fans of Chris Powell & his Charlton team & we were happy to tip them up for League glory back at the start of the season but they look to be horribly overmatched in their short trip to Craven Cottage to face up against Fulham. Since the start of December Martin Jol's side have beaten Liverpool & Arsenal & managed a deserved draw at Chelsea, their 5-0 loss to Manchester United can be considered an aberration as their play in general this year has been to a nice standard (they've also drawn against Man City & Arsenal in their first league fixture). There should be a good atmosphere in the ground with this being a London derby & Fulham should play enough of their elite players to cause Charlton all sorts of problems. Fulham look to be a side that will have no trouble avoiding relegation but will struggle for a European place in the league so their best chance comes in this competition, they really enjoyed their Europa League adventure 2 years ago & chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed will be keen for more. Charlton will give it their best but Fulham look a real banker & odds of 4/9 are more than fair, we also wouldn't put anyone off a wager on them for outright cup glory at 50/1.

Selections:

Doncaster Rovers to beat Notts County at 21/20 (Victor Chandler)
Swindon Town to beat Wigan Athletic at 11/5 (SkyBet & Paddy Power)
Fulham to beat Charlton Athletic at 4/9 (General)