Latics can make Liverpool sweat

SPORTS BETTING:

NO-HOPERS, cannon fodder... there to make up the numbers. That’s what many onlookers will consider Athletic when they line up to face mighty Liverpool at Anfield in Friday night’s FA Cup third-round tie.

They may well be right, but wasn’t that the case for Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford on Saturday?

And Sunderland at home to Manchester City 24 hours later?

The bookies wrote off both, yet the underdogs prevailed. So can Athletic follow suit in the footballing cauldron which is Anfield?

The heart says yes, but the brain no. The odds-layers agree, making Liverpool 8-1 ON to win in 90 minutes, the draw a 10-1 chance and Latics a hefty 20-1.

Even without the banned Luis Suarez, Liverpool possess ace strikers such as, Andy Carroll, Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt.

Athletic are likely to counter with Shefki Kuqi, Robbie Simpson and Chris Taylor. In midfield, Liverpool can parade the likes of Charlie Adam and Steven Gerrard.

Latics have Dean Furman and James Wesolowski, both admirable performers but not, probably by their own admission, in the same echelon as the Premier League stars.

But the sum of the parts can often nullify the difference in class, especially in a one-off game — and that is what Latics boss Paul Dickov will be hoping for at Anfield.

His team have been excellent in cup competitions this year and have nothing to lose.

If goalkeeper Alex Cisak has a blinder and centre-backs Zander Diamond and Jean-Yves Mvoto can stand up to the expected wave of Liverpool attacks, who knows? This, after all is the FA Cup, and strange things happen.

I expect Athletic to perform admirably, but ultimately succumb to superior fire power.

RECOMMENDATION: Liverpool to beat Athletic 2-0, 13-2 (William Hill).



FOR this newspaper, Latics will always be the number one sporting attraction. But a Manchester derby in the FA Cup is a pretty good second-best, and that’s what we get at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

This is a showdown which United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will be desperate to win, given his side’s humiliating 6-1 home defeat at the hands of City in the Premier League in October.

The wily Fergie tightened up his defence following that reverse, but saw it breached again three times by Blackburn on Saturday.

Expect him to revert to a more cautious approach against City, especially after seeing lowly West Brom and Sunderland reap the dividends of such tactics in the last fortnight.

In fact, I can see both teams cancelling each other out, so a 0-0 result is a distinct possibility. Take the 10-1 on offer.



AS for this year’s FA Cup winners, look no further than the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool.

I can’t have Arsenal – who possess a soft spine – as a major power at present, but the rest have solid shouts for Wembley glory.

With the Manchester clubs playing each other, I have put a line through both at present, while Chelsea are poor value at 6-1 given their inconsistent defending.

That leaves us with Spurs and Liverpool at 8-1. The former, like Liverpool, should overcome lower-league opposition in Cheltenham and have a big enough squad to cope with FA Cup and Premier League fixtures.

Split your normal stake by backing both and hope they avoid each other in the draw because I strongly believe one or both can reach the final.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Man City and Man Utd, goalless draw, 10-1 (general); Liverpool, Spurs to win the FA Cup, 8-1 (general).



AND FINALLY . . . IT’S nice to get it right sometimes, even if there are some serious doubters out there.

I welcome comment on this column, but the guy who sent me an email lambasting my selection of Adrian Lewis to win the world darts has yet to live up to his promise.

He wrote: “If Lewis wins the title, I'll personally come to the Chron's office to apologise about disagreeing with you.”

We’re at 172, Union Street.