Odds on domestic cup wins for Fiorentina, Fulham and PSG have drifted to a tasty 13/2 as an enhanced treble.
Tuesday’s top football contests are all cup ties. Fiorentina travel to giant-killers Udinese in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final, Fulham host Sheffield United in an FA Cup fourth round replay (AND) French Ligue 1 leaders PSG are at Nantes in the (FRENCH CUP?) Coupe de la Ligue.
Udinese v Fiorentina
The Coppa Italia has been an escape from battling relegation for struggling Serie A side Udinese this season. Francesco Guidolin’s team knocked both Milan clubs out in previous rounds.
Udinese have won four of the last five meetings with their Florentine opponents and, for all their inconsistencies, they are 7/4 to beat them again. Crucially, however, Vincenzo Montella steered Fiorentina to a Coppa Italia victory in Udine last season.
Borja Valero’s superb strike settled that round-of-16 tie, but the sides meet two stages further on (THIS TIME). The Viola are 13/8 to win this first leg, with odds of 21/10 on a draw.
Udinese captain Antonio Di Natale has five goals in his last eight appearances against Fiorentina. His prolific penalty-taking makes him a sound investment at 11/8 to score at anytime here.
Former Liverpool playmaker Alberto Aquilani hit a hat-trick in the recent 3-3 draw with Genoa that kept Montella’s men in the top four. He is 66/1 to take the match ball home with him again.
Fulham v Sheffield United
Premier League basement club Fulham tackle League One strugglers Sheffield United again for a place in round five of the FA Cup. The Craven Cottage club have never beaten the Blades in domestic cup competitions, but there’s a first time for everything.
Rene Meulensteen is expected to make changes again, but Fulham remain odds-on at 8/13 to advance. Nigel Clough’s Sheffield United are a 5/1 shot to keep their cup run going. with 14/5 on a draw in 90 minutes.
As the Blades have thrown away first-half leads in four of their last six, 12/1 is a hugely attractive price in the half-time lead and fail to win market. The Steel City side are also 11/5 to score first and Chris Porter, who netted the opener in the original tie, is 9/1 to do so again.
Laurent Blanc has bigger fish to fry than Nantes as he takes PSG to French title rivals Monaco on Sunday. The Parisians have won five in a row, scoring 16 goals, and eight of the last 10 in this fixture.
PSG also completed a Ligue 1 double over Nantes by putting five past them at the Parc des Princes on January 19th. They are a 50/1 to repeat that scoreline. Blanc’s boys have lost once at home in all competitions and that is why they are odds-on at 8/15 to triumph here.
Two of the last three meetings between these two have contained five goals, so a price of 11/2 on there being over 4.5 goals is worth a punt.
PSG have kept two clean sheets in their last three home matches, so 11/8 on the hosts to win to nil should be considered too.
Defender Alex, once of Chelsea, has scored on his last two appearances and is 7/2 to net at anytime here. Nantes are big outsiders at 6/1 for the win, with 11/4 the draw.
