FA Cup: Manchester City v Manchester United Odds and Betting Preview

MANCHESTER, UK - Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City side begin the defence of their FA Cup this lunchtime when they host fierce rivals Manchester United at Eastlands. The two sides met at Wembley in the semi-final last year, when a Yaya Touré goal sent City through to their first FA Cup Final since 1981.

The Manchester Derby is without doubt the biggest betting event of the weekend, and many punters will be backing Manchester City to triumph on home soil at 11/10 with bet365 and William Hill. A draw between the two Europa League sides would set up a heated replay at Old Trafford, and can be supported at odds of 12/5 with Betfred and Sky Bet. United have been in dreadful form recently, but cannot be written off just yet, and may tempt some at 13/5 with Irish bookie Paddy Power.

City go into the televised match as deserving favourites, not only on the back of their famous 6-1 triumph over the Red Devils last October at Old Trafford, but also having won each of their previous 11 games at the City of Manchester Stadium in all competitions. The Citizens have a formidable home record, and recently cruised to victory over Liverpool with a comfortable 3-0 win last Tuesday. However with the onset of the African Cup of Nations, Mancini will have to do without both Yaya and Kolo Touré, in addition to the injured Balotelli and possibly even Dzeko. Nasri is also a slight doubt, and was expected to fill in for Yaya in the playmaker role, whilst Tevez is still doing his best to convince AC Milan to sign him.

The Red Devils had a Christmas to forget, despite things getting off to a great start with a resounding 5-0 win over Wigan on Boxing Day. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men then proceeded to lose at home to 25/1 Blackburn, followed by 9/2 Newcastle to seal their first consecutive league defeats since last March. Coupled with a humiliating set of Europa League ties, you can see why William Hill are taking bets on whether Fergie (2/7 yes, 5/2 no) and Rooney (1/5 yes, 10/3 no) will still be at Old Trafford by the start of next season. The same firm also goes 8/15 that United end this season without a major trophy and 500/1 that they do not pick up a single Premier League point in January. If that all sounds a bit dramatic then how about the news carried by The Sun yesterday, that Paul Scholes is prepared to come out of retirement in a bid to solve the injury crisis.

Punters looking for enhanced odds on either a City or United win can turn to the correct score market in order to try and predict the outcome after 90 minutes, knowing that a Manchester Derby in the FA Cup has never had to go to a replay. 1-0 and 2-1 wins for City can be backed at 7/1 and 9/1 respectively with Ladbrokes, with the only scoreline deemed more likely by the bookies being a 1-1 draw, which is at 6/1 with Betfred and Coral. 1-0 to United is a stand-out 10/1 with bet365, which looks a massive price if you fancy a tight game, couple with the fact that the online firm will refund losing correct score bets if the game finishes in a ‘bore draw’ (0-0). A 2-2 thriller is 14/1 with Blue Square and Ladbrokes, and goals could be the way to go as there have been 12 in the two Derbies played already this season

bet365 are taking bets on the number of goals, red cards and penalties awarded during the match. It is 5/1 for four goals, 10/1 for five goals and 33/1 for seven or more goals. A single penalty to be given is a 5/2 chance and it is 9/1 for two or more red cards, although punters should remember that Balotelli will not be featuring. Paddy Power will refund losing correct score, first and last goalscorer bets up to £100 if Chris Foy brings out a red card, which looks a reasonable concession to get onside as a punter.

The odds-compilers at Stan James are best-priced on every player in the first goalscorer market, with the favourite being Sergio Aguero, who is at 6/1. Wayne Rooney could be a big price at 13/2 with the same firm, as he looks to hit back at The Independent, who yesterday claimed that he was set to leave United. Dzeko comes next at 7/1, and the other leading contender is Welbeck, who is set to partner Rooney in attack and is a 9/1 chance with the Gibraltar-based firm. At bigger odds, Vincent Kompany could be worth a couple of quid at 50/1 with Stan James, with two goals to his name already this season.

In other goalscorer markets, Rooney is 19/10 with Unibet to score at any time, and Aguero is best-priced at 9/1 with Sky Bet to steal the show and score two or more goals in the 90 minutes.

City are at 12/5 with Ladbrokes and totesport to lead the game at both half-time and full-time, whereas Draw/City can be backed at 4/1 with William Hill.

The Red Devils have won five of the last seven Cup games between the two sides and are 11/1 to win the FA Cup, with City the second-favourites behind Chelsea at 7/1 with Coral.

The match kicks-off at 1.00pm GMT on Sunday 8 January and is live on ITV1. Coverage begins at 12.30pm and the game is followed by Peterborough v Sunderland.

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