FA Cup betting includes various interesting ways to place bets. It is the most elite competition that boasts a tournament rather than a league format. What makes this whole process special is, of course, the variety of betting offers.
You will be able to pick a bookie with bonuses that add to your betting experience when it comes to this contest. Moreover, you can check out some odds, fun facts, and valuable betting tips that certain experts have created specifically for this legendary competition.
FA Cup Qualification
15/10/2024
7:45 pm
Understanding FA Cup Betting
As said, betting on the Football Association Challenge Cup implies betting in a tournament format. Unlike, let’s say, the Premier League, you can bet on different stages of this tournament (e.g. to reach the quarter-finals, to be in the finals, etc.).
So, the outright markets and odds change after every round as teams get eliminated. Plus, you can get your hands on a range of markets for a particular 90-minute game. As is the case with other very popular leagues or tournaments, you can run across both standard and exotic markets.
These involve but are not limited to 1X2, handicap, correct score, number of goals, corners, fouls, and yellow cards, top scorers, to win to nil, to win from behind, half-time/full time, and many more.
The tournament format isn’t the only peculiar element here. Compared to other football tournaments, such as the Euro or World Cup, which include only the best performers in the qualifiers, the FA Cup consists of teams from the Premier League, English Football League, and the FA National League System.
All these leagues and divisions cover pretty much everything regarding professional football in England. So, it’s no surprise that the FA Cup is rapidly growing in popularity both for bettors and random spectators.
Exclusive FA Cup Betting Offers
Many bettors find bonuses to be one of the most peculiar parts of betting on the FA Cup. This is because promotions usually offer lots of additional betting opportunities. When I mention offers, I think about exclusive ones.
For instance, you can opt for free bet bonuses, which can provide you with more betting means. You can combine your own funds to place bets and use free bets under certain conditions.
Another exclusive offer relates to odds boosts. In other words, some bookmakers may offer you more competitive odds than others to attract new customers. You may take advantage of this and jump in with bets with higher potential winnings due to the more competitive odds. On top of everything, you may also stumble upon first deposit, cashback, or no-deposit promotions.
Odds are subject to change. Last updated 15th October 2024
Effective FA Cup Betting Strategies
Betting on the English Football Cup competition can become easier if you use certain strategies. First, it’s always important to focus on data analysis and stats.
Statistics show how frequently something happens and also reveal a club’s playing style, good and bad sides, etc. You won’t even have to analyse stats yourself. Instead, you can visit websites with such content and learn about the stats.
In addition, you can watch the interviews with experts sharing their opinions on teams’ performances. The same goes for reading news articles that major English football experts write.
Yet another aspect to consider here is the FA Cup legacy. More specifically, you may want to get an insight into the history of this tournament. Tradition is something that should not be taken lightly. So, you can learn about past winners, how many times a team won this contest, how convincing they were, and so on.
Lastly, I believe that seeing the most common betting markets for this competition may help you with “knowing the public. This means you can check these markets first and see their odds. This will help you determine whether to follow or bet against the public. Here are the frequent FA Cup markets:
- Both teams to score
- Accumulators
- Correct score
- Over 2.5 goals
In-Depth FA Cup Match Previews and Predictions
Match previews and predictions are the unavoidable part of betting on the FA Cup with success. I think that one of the key factors that can contribute to your betting success is knowing the favourites.
If you know the favourites, you can bet on outrights, but also be ready to place other bets as you know the favourites’ goal-scoring abilities as well as how well or badly they can perform facing the underdogs. Therefore, I present my predictions regarding the most likely winners of the upcoming FA Cup tournament.
- Man City
Pep Guardiola’s team won second place last year. However, this club is still one of the strongest when it comes to the top players. The Citizens also won the Premier League and got to the Champions League quarter-finals, which suggests great ambition. I think that they will strive for even more this season.
- Man Utd
The Red Devils have been in a little bit of a crisis lately. Yet, their primary focus is securing at least one of the major trophies. As their Premier League performance isn’t that great, they will probably go all-in for the FA Cup title this season, just like last year.
- Arsenal
If we look at Arsenal’s past performances, we’ll see that Arteta’s men were quite up to the task. With plenty of success and great morale, the Gunners are also the team many should fear.
Comparative FA Cup Betting Odds Analysis
As previously discussed, you should check out the best FA Cup odds. I’ve done some research and found out which brands stand out from the crowd regarding the odds they offer.
| FA Cup Teams | Bookies and Winning Odds* | ||||
| 888sport | BetVictor | BetMGM | BoyleSports | BetUK | |
| Man City | 4.00 | 4.50 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Arsenal | 8.00 | 8.00 | 8.00 | 8.00 | 8.00 |
| Liverpool | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Chelsea | 11.00 | 11.00 | 11.00 | 11.00 | 11.00 |
| Tottenham | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 |
| Man Utd | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 |
* Odds are subject to change. Always check odds before placing bets.
Having the most competitive odds at your disposal allows you to identify value bets. What I mean by this is that bookies may sometimes offer odds that are higher than usual for markets that are more likely to come true.
For instance, if you know that a team’s form is very good, that it will play a game as a home team, and that its squad misses no players, you can bet on it to win even though the odds for this market are somewhat higher than average.
FA Cup Standing Information
This tournament began on 3 August this year. At the moment, the FA Cup tournament standings show more than 150 clubs playing in the quarter-final qualifiers. All the qualifier games are scheduled to be played until 15 October. After that, the draw will determine the rivals for the first proper round.
We all look forward to seeing most of the Premier League club members. It goes without saying that they involve teams like Man City, Liverpool, Newcastle, Man Utd, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc. All these clubs belong to the favourites category. Therefore, much attention revolves around the fixtures they will play.
After the qualifiers, the competition format will include eight different stages. These are the first round, the second round, the third round, the fourth round, the fifth round, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the FA Cup Finals.
The Football Association Challenge Cup is a knockout tournament, so every round is eliminatory. Apart from the favourites, we all remember some underdogs and their ability to do miracles.
For example, Wigan Athletic won the 2012/13 FA Cup by beating Chelsea in the finals. This was one of the biggest surprises in the contest’s history. It’s also interesting that Portsmouth played twice in the finals (2007/08 and 2009/10).
Back in the 2005/06 season, when Liverpool won the Champions League, West Ham almost took the trophy away from them in the FA Cup, but they lost after the penalties.
Best Odds for FA Cup Matches
There are no “completely safe bets”. Yet, betting on the favourites is closest to that. As I showed you before, certain operators offer some competitive odds on the favourites to win. The best FA Cup odds for the number one favourite to lift the trophy are 4.50. Arsenal is behind, with odds of 8.00.
Liverpool’s winning odds lie at 10.00, whereas Chelsea’s odds of winning the title are at 11.00. Finally, bookmakers provide the odds of 15.00 for both Tottenham and Man Utd to win this contest.
Unique Details
With such a long tradition, the English Football Cup competition features many unique elements. Firstly, there’s symbolism behind the Wembley Stadium. The first final ever played at this stadium was in 1923.
This FA Cup legacy continued, and all the other events from this tournament took place there. During the renovation of Wembley, the FA Cup finals were held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff (2001-2006). Later, the New Wembley Stadium was opened and has been the place where FA Cup matches have been played ever since.
History and fun facts also imply some of the most iconic teams in this contest. For instance, Arsenal won this tournament as many as 14 times. Man Utd did that 13 times. Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham won eight, while City and Aston Villa won seven trophies.
Throughout history, we have witnessed a lot of memorable FA Cup moments. Some of them took place long ago, and some have happened recently.
| Year | Memorable Moment |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Watson’s Winner against the favourites, Man City |
| 2006 | Steven Gerrard’s legendary volley versus West Ham |
| 2001 | Michael Owen’s two goals late game and one assist against Arsenal |
| 1988 | Beasant’s penalty save versus Liverpool |
| 1973 | Montgomery’s double save against Leeds United |
Expert FA Cup Betting Tips and Advice
Due to its popularity, plenty of experts have provided various tips for FA Cup betting. Before I go into more advanced strategies, I should mention how important it is to manage your bankroll.
More precisely, I recommend that you come up with a reasonable budget based on how much you can afford to spend. Additionally, you should never chase any losses. This also involves avoiding emotional betting.
In relation to this, you can check the responsible betting page on any legal operator’s site and get information about setting deposit limits, taking timeouts, and doing reality checks.
Betting on the FA Cup gets into a new dimension with more advanced betting strategies. That’s how you’ll run into line shopping, removing the vig, fading the public, hedging, and many other strategies.
Bear in mind that each strategy comes with its own pros and cons and that none of them guarantees winnings. It’s always the key not to overdo things and to bet responsibly.
FA Cup Betting Offers – My Verdict
All in all, FA Cup betting is one of the most well-liked pastimes for bettors from this region. It’s no wonder that this is so, as there are numerous bookmakers offering a large number of different promotions.
Some of the bonuses you may bump into are first deposit, odds boost, cashback, and other promos. An additional element that can largely expand your betting experience here refers to the odds.
Knowing that you can do odds comparison and find the most competitive ones, as well as that you can identify value bets takes this tournament and betting on it to a whole new level.
