Black Cats face Championship’s Cottagers in FA Cup clash

It’s set to be another wonderful weekend full of fantastic FA Cup action as Sunderland, odds-on 4/6 favourites, host Championship side Fulham at the Stadium of Light in their fourth round tie.

Elsewhere, Welsh outfit Cardiff will be aiming to overcome Steve Clarke’s Reading, while Aston Villa fight for a place in the fifth round in battle with Bournemouth.

Sunderland v Fulham
Fulham, 4/1 to win, will go into their showdown with Gus Poyet’s side as huge underdogs having had an incredibly inconsistent Championship campaign, sliding down to 14th in the domestic league table.

However, Kit Symons’ side have won their last two games, including a 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest thanks to a hat-trick from former Leeds United attacker Ross McCormack. The in-form Scottish international is 2/1 to net anytime again having bagged 10 goals this season in 31 outings.

The Cottagers’ Premier League opposition have been on a poor run of form from the start of the year, with the Black Cats’ only victory of 2015 coming against Fulham’s Championship rivals Leeds in the previous round.

Poyet’s men have conceded 33 league goals this term, scoring only 19, and are 10/1 to lose to nil at the Stadium of Light. The top-flight strugglers will be without Lee cattermole, Adam Johnson and Wes Brown for the cup clash, while Fulham confirmed captain Scott Parker is set to miss out through injury.

Sebastian Larsson was on target in his side’s defeat to Tottenham last time out and is 4/1 to get on the scoresheet anytime this weekend.

Cardiff v Reading
Russell Slade’s men, 11/8 to win, will be confident of toppling the Royals in the Welsh capital, having lost just once in their previous 12 meetings in all competitions.

These two sides have played each other on four other occasions in the FA Cup, with the spoils equally shared at two victories each. The Bluebirds secured a 2-0 cup triumph in 2009 and are available at 12/1 to win by the same margin this time out.