QPR v Watford
FA Cup – 7.45 pm
BT Sport
This is the start of a busy weekend of FA Cup football, so this is a great way to lead the best bets of the day. It could well be an interesting clash from Loftus Road to kick it all off too. Championship side QPR are not in any kind of form at the moment, indeed having lost five on the bounce in the league. The R’s have actually suffered five defeats in their last seven games (W1 D1). The lone success was a 2-0 win on home soil over Portsmouth in the last round of the FA Cup.
It sounds bad for QPR, but they have actually enjoyed a fair degree of success at home. The R’s have won seven of their last eleven home games in all competitions (D1 L3). They have scored at least two goals in all but two of the games in that sequence too. Rangers are 16/5 underdogs at top bookmakers to pull off a win in this fixture. Will they make life uncomfortable for Premier League side Watford? The Hornets have been pretty solid for a while now, losing just one of their last nine.
Watford have remained stable on their travels as well with one loss in their last eight on the road. They were on a seven-match scoring streak away from Vicarage Road before a 0-0 draw at Brighton in their last away fixture. Watford’s games in this season’s FA Cup have seen the Hornets produce 2-0 away wins at Woking and then Newcastle. They go as 10/11 favourites with leading bookmakers to be the first team through to the quarterfinals.
Sunderland v Accrington
League One – 7.45 pm
Sky Sports
There is an important game up for Sunderland on Friday night in League One. Three points at home e would see them move up into third place in the standings. Sunderland have not had a taste of defeat at the Stadium of Light this season in the league. However, the Black Cats have found themselves having to settle for a lot of drawn matches lately. Six of their last eight in the division (home and away combined) have finished in a tie. Three of their last four at home have ended in a draw as well.
The Black Cats are 8/11 odds at leading bookmakers to rediscover their winning touch on Friday night as they host Accrington. Accrington have been going through a rough patch of form and they sit down in the bottom half of the table. They are beginning to look a bit nervous too with the drop zone only three points behind them. Stanley have claimed only two points (both from 0-0 draws) in their last six league fixtures. Even more troubling for them is that they have failed to score in any of their last six league games played. They badly need a boost. A win on Wearside would definitely deliver that.
Augsburg v Bayern Munich
Bundesliga – 7.30 pm
BT Sport
Reigning champions Bayern Munich will be looking to heap some pressure on current leaders Dortmund on Friday night. Bayern start the game five points behind BVB in the title race. So three points for Bayern out at the struggling Augsburg would edge them a little bit closer. After a slow start to the season, Bayern have hit their stride lately winning eight of their last nine league fixtures.
They did, however, slip to a loss in their last away game, going down 3-1 at Leverkusen. That snapped a four-match winning streak of form that Bayern were on away from home, teh Bavarians scoring a least two goals in each of those four victories. Away from home Bayern are 1/4 odds on favourites with the leading bookmakers to collect these three points to help them along in this exciting title race. But what kind of challenge may Augsburg put up?
The Fuggerstädter haven’t found much form for the season with only four victories all term (home and away combined). They have lost eight of their last 11 league fixtures (W1 D2). As a boost for themselves though they claimed a 3-0 victory over Mainz in their last home league game, snapping a six-match winless streak at the WWK Arena. They have to defy some huge 11/1 odds on them to pull out the win in this one though.
