Wondering who to back for X Factor elimination? Here’s our tip

Are we all over Gifty Louise’s shock X Factor departure yet? Good, because we’re fast approaching yet another weekend of drama, as the remaining eight contestants prepare to take to the stage once again for Girlband v Boyband week. And while Emily Middlemas is closing in on Matt Terry in the outright market, we’re more interested in who’ll face the fifth elimination.

Despite receiving the backing of the public in recent weeks, this week’s theme has thrown up a difficult song for Saara Alto to pull off. She’ll be covering Girls Aloud’s Sound of the Underground, and we think she’ll struggle to win the audience over and avoid the bottom three for the third week running.

And while she’s 5/6 to finish in the bottom two, the chances of her being saved by the judges for the third time in five weeks seem slim – especially when you consider who she may be up against in the sing-off.

It’s important to remember at this stage that contestants are just one week away from reaching the Live Tour – and there could well be some favouritism from the judges to ensure they have a varied bunch on board to travel the country next year.

While Four of Diamonds are one of the weakest acts remaining, they are the only Girlband in the process, and bearing in mind the theme of the week, this should be their time to impress.

Meanwhile, Ryan Lawrie can expect another night of nail-biting on Sunday, as it’s likely he’ll feature in the bottom three.

But the Lifeline Vote has saved him many times before, and his fanbase is actually one of the biggest in the show (only Matt Terry and Emily Middlemas have more Twitter followers than the 20-year-old).

And even if he was to face his first sing-off of the competition, it’s unlikely the judges would opt to send him home over Saara.

There’s a chance we could see another shock this weekend though, as the stronger contestants have to eventually be picked off one-by-one. And that could spell danger for Sam Lavery. It appears that Simon Cowell’s other act, Emily, is receiving most of the votes in his category, begging the question: where will Sam’s votes come from?

Though we’re not expecting the 17-year-old to exit the process just yet, there could be some value in 9/4 for her to finish in the bottom two.

But, all things considered, our best bet for the weekend is Saara Alto to be eliminated at 5/2.

And before you ask, yes, we’re completely aware that we’ve not mentioned Honey G and ‘elimination’ in the same sentence. It’s just not going to happen this week.

Click here for a full list of X Factor odds.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing