STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW: FA Cup 2025

There are few things in football like the magic of the FA Cup third round and with the Premier League and Championship sides entering the fray, it’s the perfect time to look for this season’s winner, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

Whilst we can look forward to a cupset or two, at the business end the FA Cup has been a preserve of English football’s elite for the past 20 years. Only three clubs outside the ‘big six’ (Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool) have won the trophy since 1994-95, and Leicester were fifth in the League when they beat Chelsea in the 2021-21 final, with a number of their title winning team still in action.

So whilst there’s nothing wrong with taking an outsider – plenty of clubs have reached the final at big prices – the top of the market looks the place to search for the best winning shot.

⭐️ STARSPORTS.BET OUTRIGHT FA CUP BETTING ⭐️

FA Cup 2024-25
Live on BBC Sport, iPlayer, and radio / ITV Sport and ITV X

Schedule:
Third Round: Thursday 9th January
Fourth Round: Saturday 8th February
Fifth Round: Saturday 1st March
Quarter-Final: Saturday 29th March
Semi-Final: Saturday 6th April
Final: Saturday 17th May
*Subject to change

PAST WINNERS & RUNNERS UP:
2023-24 FA Cup Final: Manchester United (won 2-1 against Manchester City)
2022-23 FA Cup Final: Manchester City (won 2-1 against Manchester United)
2021-22 FA Cup Final: Liverpool (won 6-5 on penalties against Chelsea)
2020-21 FA Cup Final: Leicester City (won 1-0 against Chelsea)
2019-20 FA Cup Final: Arsenal (won 2-1 against Chelsea)
2018-19 FA Cup final: Manchester City (won 5-0 against Watford)
2017-18 FA Cup final: Chelsea (won 1-0 against Manchester United)
2016-17 FA Cup final: Arsenal (won 2-1 against Chelsea)
2015–16 FA Cup final: Manchester United (won 2–1 against Crystal Palace)
2014–15 FA Cup final: Arsenal (won 4–0 against Aston Villa)

Manchester City’s loss of form has been one of the stories of the season and whilst back-to-back wins in the Premier League should help their mood, there are far too many questions to consider them as 4/1 favourites with starsports.bet.

Pep Guardiola will look to make changes to his squad over the transfer window but how much can be done is open to question, City are being hurt by a lack of legs in midfield and on the flank, and there are several issues across the squad before one considers the fight they’ll need to put in to secure a top-four place and progress in the Champions League.

5/1 about Liverpool makes much more appeal given their brilliant form this season, but the Premier League and Champions League will surely be their main focus, whilst they have work to do. To overturn a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham in their EFL Cup semi-final first leg.

Chelsea, given the sheer numbers available to Enzo Maresca, are of more interest especially given that a number of their second-teamers have regular gametime already in the Conference League. Their festive drop off is a slight concern, though, and the Premier League and Conference League may be their main priorities.

With their current lack of forward power, Arsenal – who will need to improve if third-round rivals Manchester United play as well as they did against Liverpool last week – make no appeal and one would need to see much more consistency from United before considering them for an extended cup run, although they did win last season under Erik Ten Hag despite their many issues.

That said, their squad could change over January if major players are sold to comply with PSR rules and assessing them after their tie at Arsenal (should they reach the fourth round) – looks a more sensible option. Tottenham pulled out a great performance to upset Liverpool in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final and should breeze past Tamworth, in theory putting them in a good position for senior players to return. They would want a helpful fourth round draw – it will come after their trip to Anfield for the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final – and might be better assessed after the third round.

Newcastle United already have one foot in a cup final – it would be astonishing if they didn’t reach Wembley after beating Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates in midweek – and at 11/1 they make huge appeal from the main contenders.

A third-round tie against Bromley is a perfect draw considering the effort they made at the Emirates and from then on there would be few ties they’d fear, considering that they have no European football to contend with, allowing them to go for the top four alongside other aims.

The club’s long wait for silverware – the last domestic trophy they won was the 1955 FA Cup – means cups get priority on Tyneside and given the quality available to them and the space in their schedule, it’s hard to imagine the Magpies not giving the FA Cup a strong challenge.

Victory at Arsenal was Newcastle’s sixth success in a row and there would be few trips they’d fear, and their home record speaks for itself. A kind draw would be helpful, although they are 1/7 to beat Bromley this weekend whilst there are two all Premier League ties including Arsenal against Manchester United. Eddie Howe started Miguel Almiron, Harvey Barnes, Matt Targett, Kieran Tripper, and Sean Longstaff on the bench for their 2-0 win at Arsenal, emphasising the strength in depth available to them despite PSR restrictions over the last summer, and punters shouldn’t fear any Newcastle rotations.

Aston Villa’s focus is likely to be on the juggling act of trying to finish in the top four alongside making progress in the Champions League, and a tie against West Ham with new manager Graham Potter is hardly a third round gimme. Brighton should be able to navigate a trip to Brighton and have plenty of talent available, although they haven’t won a game since late November, with their early season momentum dropping off slightly.

High-flying Nottingham Forest have won their last six and whilst they could well go all in for European football, with no other distractions a cup bid will surely make appeal and they have a reasonable amount of strength in depth to boot. Taiwo Awoniyi, James Ward-Prowse, Jota Silva, Ryan Yates, Willy Boly and Carlos Miguel all started on the bench for their 2-0 win at Wolves on Monday, they should be able to take care of out-of-sorts Luton at home this weekend, and given their Premier League record it’s hard to think of many draws they would fear. Certainly, they have the potential to be much shorter than the 33/1 available with starsports.bet at the time of writing.

Bournemouth have also enjoyed a brilliant season so far and are worth chancing at 30/1 with starsports.bet. A home tie against West Brom is a fair start to proceedings and the level of their improvement in the Premier League under Andoni Iraola entitles them to serious respect. The Cherries have beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham at home in the league whilst taking points from Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Fulham is more than respectable work.

Underlying data suggests they should be higher than seventh in the league and whilst they need to find a new forward – Evanilson has undergone foot surgery and Enes Unal has torn his ACL – Marcus Tavernier and Luis Sinisterra have returned to training recently and manager Andoni Iraola had a strong Copa del Rey record in Spain.

Best of the rest could well be Fulham, who sit tenth under Marco Silva and have plenty of attacking talent to use if they want to target this competition with a strong side. With no threat of relegation, it would be no surprise if they wanted to make amends for their early exit from the EFL Cup at Preston and they are worthy of respect.

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PROFIT/LOSS (JAN 2025): -2.25 points

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