Betting Week in Review 9/1/2023 Bookmakers Enjoy Giant Killings
In our betting week in review, it was an excellent third round in the FA Cup for bookmakers, with several giant killings, including a historic Stevenage Borough win against Premier League club Aston Villa. Draws are always good news for operators who will have enjoyed the stalemates involving Liverpool and Leeds United.
Stevenage Fans Enjoyed Their FA Cup Trip to Birmingham © Pixabay.
For many fans, the Third Round of the FA Cup is the highlight of the footballing calendar. The big boys join the competition at this stage, and the competition is famous for the upsets it provides. This year is no different, with some surprising results throughout the weekend. So, join us as we recap some of the biggest surprises.
League Two Stevenage Stun Premier League Villa
Stevenage Borough, who ply their trade in League Two, the fourth tier of the football pyramid, produced an almighty shock on Sunday by beating Aston Villa of the Premier League 1-2 at Villa Park.
The bookies anticipated a routine win for Villa, pricing them at 11/50. The draw was available at 257/50, and a win for Stevenage was a healthy 600/50.
It was easy to understand why Villa was so fancied as they are three divisions ahead of their opponents and 59 league places. The Villians had home advantage and were unbeaten in their last two games, drawing against Wolves and winning against Tottenham 2-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend. They also started the game with a powerful line-up with Calum Chambers, Matty Cash, Douglas Luiz, Danny Ings and the former £142m man Philippe Coutinho picked by Unai Emery.
The game appeared to be going to form when the home side took the lead after 33 minutes when Morgan Sanson scored his first goal for the club. The 28-year-old has been a bit part player for the Midlands club since joining for a £16 million deal in January 2021 from Marseille, making just 21 appearances since the move and has played just one minute of Premier League football.
In the second half, Villa continued their dominance without really threatening the Stevenage goal and paid the price when the league minnows scored two goals in two minutes to turn the game around.
Aston Villa’s Leander Dendoncker was shown a straight red card for bringing down Dean Campbell in the penalty area. Jamie Reid scored from the spot in the 88th minute, and two minutes later, Campbell scored an excellent goal to claim the win and send the 3,000 travelling supporters into raptures.
So it wasn't a dream. 🤯
Good morning, #StevenageFC fans. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/YwhABEzXis
— Stevenage FC 🔴⚪ (@StevenageFC) January 9, 2023
Stevenage’s reward is another away trip, this time to to Stoke City, which currently sits in 18th place in the Championship.
Magpies are Downed by The Owls
The biggest upset on Saturday was Sheffield Wednesday’s remarkable win over Newcastle United, who are flying high in the Premier League. The League One side won 2-1 against the Magpies, who currently sit third in the top flight.
Since the takeover of Newcastle, which made them the world’s richest club, expectations have been raised on Tyneside, and many of their fans expected a good run in this season’s FA cup to end their long drought for a trophy.
The bookmaker’s certainly thought Newcastle would be in the draw for the Fourth Round. They had Newcastle at 3/5, the draw at 76/25 and a home win for Sheffield Wednesday at 9/2.
Despite both teams having good chances in the first half, it was goalless at the break. However, Wednesday started the second half with more purpose and was rewarded with a goal from Josh Windass seven minutes after the break. The 29-year-old scored a hattrick against Cambridge last Monday in the league, having gone five games without scoring.
Wednesday was fortunate that VAR wasn’t in operation, as Windass looked offside when Dennis Adeniran’s cross found the attacker, but the assistant didn’t flag, and the goal stood.
If Windass was lucky for the first, there was no controversy about his second, scored thirteen minutes after the first. Michael Smith’s through ball was found by the Englishman, who remained calm and slotted the ball past Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal.
Newcastle did halve the deficit with 21 minutes left to play thanks to a goal from Bruno Guimarães, but the League One side held firm to claim the scalp of Newcastle.
As a reward, they will play fellow League One side Fleetwood Town in the next round.
Fleetwood is in 14th, Wednesday is in 2nd, and home advantage means the Sheffield club will be confident of reaching the Fifth Round.
Newcastle stunned by League 1 Sheffield Wednesday 😵 pic.twitter.com/zUvR1m1vkt
— 433 (@433) January 7, 2023
In other surprise results, Southampton put their league woes behind them by beating Crystal Palace 1-2 away. Palace is eight spots above the Premier League’s bottom club. Fleetwood beat QPR 2-1.
There were plenty of goals in the ties between Blackpool and Nottingham Forrest, with the Seasiders stunning Premier League Nottingham Forest by an incredible 4-1 scoreline. Wrexham’s game with Coventry had a Hollywood ending, with Wrexham winning 3-4.
Draws are always good news for bookmakers, so they will have been delighted with the stalemate between Liverpool v Wolves, who took part in an enjoyable controversial 2-2. Wolves thought they had won the game late on, but VAR officials didn’t have ‘the correct angle’ to over-rule an onfield offside decision.
There were also draws in the Cardiff v Leeds, Bristol City v Swansea, Luton v Wigan, Boreham Wood v Accrington and Chesterfield v West Brom games.
FA Cup Fourth Round Draw
Preston North End v Tottenham
Southampton v Blackpool
Wrexham v Sheffield United
Ipswich Town v Burnley
Manchester United v Reading
Luton or Wigan v Grimsby Town
Derby County v West Ham United
Stoke City v Stevenage
Blackburn Rovers v Forest Green or Birmingham
Walsall v Leicester City
Sheffield Wednesday v Fleetwood Town
Manchester City v Oxford or Arsenal
Bristol City or Swansea v Chesterfield or West Brom
Brighton v Liverpool or Wolves
Fulham v Sunderland
Boreham Wood or Accrington Stanley v Cardiff or Leeds
All ties will take place between 27-30 January, dates and kick-off times TBC.
