we have reached the semi-final stage of this year’s emirates fa cup, with two mouth-watering matches taking place at wembley stadium this weekend. on saturday, jose mourinho’s manchester united play mauricio pochettino’s tottenham hotspur. the following day, chelsea and southampton lock horns in the national stadium.
we should be in for two thrilling semi-finals, with tottenham and chelsea the slight favourites to make it through. with our odds comparison, best betting odds, top tips and predictions, check out our fa cup semi-final preview. we will also be taking a look at the outright winner betting for this year’ competition.
man utd have been strong in cup competitions of late but can they get past tottenham at wembley on saturday to book their place in this season’s fa cup final? according to our odds comparison, the lilywhites are the favourites to progress.
after stopping rivals manchester city from winning the premier league title against them, united handed city the trophy when the red devils were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by west bromwich albion at old trafford last saturday. nevertheless, man utd’s eyes will now be on the fa cup. the best betting odds you can get on united to win this semi are 27/11 with unibet.
spurs were beaten in the premier league for the first time since december last weekend, losing 3-1 to man city at wembley. tottenham’s last two league defeats have both come at the hands of city. pochettino’s troops are still in pole position to claim a place in the top four, though.
on their way to the last four of the fa cup, united have beaten the likes of derby county, yeovil town, huddersfield town and brighton & hove albion. along the way, the red devils have conceded precisely zero goals.
tottenham, meanwhile, have had one or two scares in this year’s fa cup, with both newport county and rochdale taking them to replays. still, spurs eased into the semis with a convincing 3-0 win at swansea city in the last eight.
this fixture has the potential to be a real blockbuster affair between these two premier league giants on saturday. tottenham have settled into their temporary home as the season has progressed, and we can see them making the most of being at wembley in this one. check out the best betting odds of 17/13 (pinnacle) for tottenham to win in the 90 at the weekend.
last saturday, chelsea came from two goals down to win 3-2 at st mary’s and put another nail in southampton’s relegation coffin. even though premier league survival is number one priority for the saints, can they get some revenge by knocking the blues out of the fa cup this sunday to reach next month’s final?
southampton have had a pretty miserable season, winning just five of 33 premier league games up until now. things have been better in the fa cup, though, as the saints have beaten the likes of fulham, watford, west brom and wigan athletic to reach the final four. however, mark hughes’ men are the 7/1 (unibet) underdogs to cause an upset on sunday.
with just a handful of games left, chelsea look destined to miss out on uefa champions league football this season. nonetheless, the londoners have looked strong on their way to the last four of the fa cup, beating norwich city, newcastle united, hull city and leicester city. although winning the fa cup will only really paper over the cracks on what has been a disappointing campaign, it will certainly cushion the blow for antonio conte and his team. sporting bet’s 1/2 are the best odds on a chelsea victory.
these two know everything there is to know about each other, as the pair met just last week at st mary’s. three second-half goals in nine minutes from eden hazard and olivier giroud (2) turned the game on its head to give chelsea a 3-2 win at southampton’s home. the reverse match at stamford bridge back in december ended in a 1-0 blues win.
southampton will be desperate to lift some of the doom and gloom, but it’s hard to see past a chelsea victory on sunday. we predict the blues will win by a decent margin at wembley, with ladbrokes’ tempting betting odds of 9/1 for conte’s side to win 3-0 standing out.
only arsenal (13) have won more than fa cups than man utd (12) over the years. united will fancy their chances of equalling the gunners’ record this season. however, they must get past pochettino’s spurs in the semis first. united are available at 5/2 (unibet), while you can get tottenham at 2/1.
chelsea certainly have the easier semi-final, which is why they are the 7/4 favourites at bet365 to lift the trophy before a ball has been kicked this weekend. the saints, meanwhile, are the big 14/1 underdogs at coral and it would take a brave punter to predict they will go all the way.
after missing out in the final to london rivals arsenal last may, conte and chelsea have unfinished business with this competition. the blues are out of europe and will struggle to get back into the premier league’s top four, so the fa cup is all they really have left. at 7/4, we believe chelsea are good value to win the tournament outright.