Skip to content
GO TO bet365 Sports
FA Cup
  1. Football
  2. FA Cup

Punters backing outsiders for FA Cup

The FA Cup reaches the fourth round this week with many of the competition's favourites eyeing up straightforward passages into the next round.

Manchester United host Leicester City; Manchester City travel to Leyton Orient; Liverpool face Plymouth Argyle away; Newcastle make the trip to Birmingham City and Chelsea head to the south coast to face an out-of-form Brighton.

It could make for some tantalising fifth-round ties, but punters are looking a little further afield in the outright betting...

bet365's Sports and Trading expert Steve Freeth said: "The Citizens are a three-figure price to win the title, they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Tottenham and they’re outsiders to beat Real Madrid having scraped through to the Champions League knockout stages and with that has come a big decline in our rating for Manchester City.

"Our customers are giving them the thumbs down too with them featuring only ninth in our most popular teams since the draw in mid-January despite being 1/33 to see off Leyton Orient.

"In-form Nottingham Forest lead the way with 18.8% of wagers with the Tricky Trees at 25/1 having been 50/1 before beating Luton as they bid to emulate what Leicester City did in breaking the dominance of the Big Six when lifting the FA Cup in 2021.

"Bournemouth and Everton, who meet at Goodison Park on Saturday, are second and third on the list with 12.1% and 11.9% respectively."

Despite their struggles both domestically and abroad this term, Manchester City are still favourites for the competition. While Pep Guardiola has a superb record in the domestic cups since taking the helm at the Etihad, much of his success has come in the EFL Cup, which he won four times in a row, but his FA Cup record isn't too shabby, either.

His record as City manager in the FA Cup reads: WWDWWLWWLWWWWWWWWWWLWWWWLWWWWLWWWWWWWWWWWLW

36 wins, one draw and six losses, and that final L was a huge shock in their defeat to Manchester United in last year's final, so it's hard to rule out City going deep in the competition once more, and at a bigger price than we're used to seeing.

Prior to the third-round ties, Manchester City were the best-backed team, taking more than a quarter of all bets, but that has shifted significantly ahead of the fourth round...

Best-backed teams in the FA Cup

Bets placed from 00:00 on 13th January to 15:00 on Wednesday 5th February:

Percentage of bets

Team

18.8%

Nottingham Forest

12.1%

Bournemouth

11.9%

Everton

9.9%

Manchester United

9.8%

Liverpool

5.2%

Newcastle

4.1%

Leeds

3.6%

Aston Villa

3.5%

Man City

2.9%

Tottenham

Bets placed up until 10:00 GMT on Thursday 9th January 2025:

Percentage of bets

Team

26.30%

Manchester City

17.25%

Arsenal

16.02%

Liverpool

10.68%

Chelsea

6.76%

Manchester United

4.40%

Tottenham Hotspur

4.27%

Newcastle United

3.62%

Nottingham Forest

2.15%

Aston Villa

1.29%

West Ham United 

Related Articles

bet365 uses cookies

We use cookies to deliver a better and more personalised service. For more information, see our Cookie Policy

New to bet365? Bet £10 & Get £50 in Free Bets Join Now

Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.