Ignore Emirates battering and back hungry Liverpool for FA Cup
Published:
Aston Villa and Reading will have plenty to say about the destination of the 2014/15 FA Cup trophy, but should their respective Wembley semi-finals go the way of the big favourites, then punters are looking at a straight choice between Arsenal and Liverpool for silverware.
In the wake of the semi-final match ups being confirmed, Gunners glory, for a second successive season, is now priced up at 5/6, while a first trophy of the Brendan Rodgers ‘revolution’ is a 7/5 chance.
Anyone who witnessed the recent Premier League encounter between these two grand statesmen of English football will likely be running a mile from Liverpool’s price, even at this late stage of the competition.
That 4-1 humbling featured a 15-minute spell where Liverpool looked little more than lambs to the slaughter as Arsenal’s sleek approach play sliced through the Reds’ rearguard with frightening ease.
However, if it is possible, punters may wish to erase those one-sided scenes from their minds in order to turn a profit and put faith in a Reds revival when the probable showdown arrives.
Arsenal are the defending champions, but it was only last season that Arsene Wenger’s mob had donned the woolly coats themselves, as the rampant Reds ran amok at Anfield.
But it’s not the recent trade in maulings, rather the extra motivation from a Liverpool perspective which could well be the decisive feature in securing the famous old cup.
Arsenal are the holders, with many of their current squad having scratched an eight-year itch to land the club some much-lusted over silverware when beating Hull last season.
Rodgers’ crew were busy tossing the Premier League title into the laps of Manchester City around the same time last year and this could only have increased their collective appetite.
With the top four now a pipe dream and having already been denied a Wembley final after two legs and extra time by Chelsea, the slight underdog’s season hangs by this final thread.
The will to right some wrongs might just see them over the line on Steven Gerrard’s birthday.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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