FA Cup Betting

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The FA Cup is the biggest domestic trophy in English football. It is one of the oldest association football competitions in the world and is a huge event on football betting fans' calendars.

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FA Cup Betting Tips

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Tips for Betting on the FA Cup

It’s a truth commonly acknowledged that leading Premier League clubs don’t take the FA Cup as seriously as they previously did. With the Premier League becoming so financially lucrative and the third round of the competition coming straight after a busy festive schedule, you will often find managers resting players for the third and fourth rounds of the competition.

However, it’s very rare to see a team from outside the leading Premier League clubs win the FA Cup. Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool have been FA Cup winners in twenty-two of the past twenty-four seasons and it’s a stat worth bearing in mind when betting on the FA Cup winner

There has been the occasional surprise winner of the FA Cup, with Wigan Athletic lifting the trophy at the end of the 2012/13 season when beating Manchester City, while Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth beat Cardiff City at the end of the 2007/7 campaign.

How to Bet on the FA Cup

While some top football bookmakerswill offer online FA Cup betting on the very early rounds of the competition, it’s not until the first round proper that you start to get general interest from punters. It’s the FA Cup third-round match coupon which really gets the juices flowing and it’s when the competition starts for a lot of people.

The FA Cup third round means there are sixty-four teams remaining in the competition and that equals thirty-two matches taking place over the course of a weekend. Many of these games are televised between Friday and Monday, while there are several matches that go to a replay and these are also on TV.

The televised matches are often the biggest FA Cup games in terms of betting turnover. You find that punters are keener to bet on a football match they can watch and the TV games are also the ones with an angle. That could be a League One team hosting a Premier League outfit or an EFL Championship club heading to a top-flight club hoping to pull off a shock.

The third round of the FA Cup lends itself well to those customers looking to place accumulator bets, while the fourth round consists of sixteen matches so there is also the chance to place combined multiple bets. Some customers will look to back a shock result, while others might plug their Acca with short-priced favourites.

Best Bookmakers for FA Cup Betting

Every bookmaker will offer a new customer bonus when you register a new account. That means you can effectively earn free bets on FA Cup football should you choose to use your welcome bonus on these betting markets.

Online operators will also provide a first-class betting service when it comes to FA Cup football. The great news is that there are a large number of bookmakers out there and they all want your business. That means they will try to stand out with their FA Cup prices so that you’re more likely to place bets with them than anywhere else.

It’s also worth noting that bookmakers will offer different types of FA Cup betting markets, so it’s worth scanning through the list and making sure you have several different accounts to try and gain the biggest edge with your betting on this football competition.

FA Cup Betting Markets

Many betting customers will enjoy placing bets on the FA Cup in the same way that they do for the Premier League. When FA Cup third round weekend arrives, you are presented with an enormous football betting coupon featuring the best teams in England, along with some of the lower-ranked clubs who have managed to qualify for this stage.

Popular FA Cup match markets

There’s plenty of angles when it comes to finding a bet that suits you. If you have a firm view on who will win the match, then markets such as Full-Time Result or Result / Both Teams to Score could be up your street. However, you might instead have a stronger opinion on the number of goals being scored which might send you down the Both Teams to Score or Goals Over/Under route.

An FA Cup Bet Builder is particularly popular when there’s the perception of a one-sided game. Rather than contemplating Chelsea at 1/10 to beat Leyton Orient, betting customers can instead look to create a customised bet which might have Chelsea HT FT, Chelsea to win 3-0 and a couple of players to score as part of that victory.

Some betting customers like to bet on the ante-post FA Cup betting markets, with punters having a look at some of the following markets:

Popular FA Cup ante-post markets

When it comes to picking the FA Cup winner, the stats tell us that you shouldn’t look outside the top few teams in the betting market as they historically have the strongest squads even if they rest players for the earlier rounds.

There are alternatives to backing the winner and it should be noted that the losing finalist often comes in at a big price, while the Name the Finalists market is an intriguing puzzle which can see you land the money before the FA Cup final is even played.

There are several bookmakers out there that will offer In-Play FA Cup betting on every third-round match, irrespective of whether a game is televised. This provides a fantastic choice for punters who are looking to place a few live wagers, especially if they’re in attendance at that particular match.

Previous FA Cup Final Results

SeasonWinnersRunner-UpScore
2019/20ArsenalChelsea2-1
2018/19Manchester CityWatford6-0
2017/18ChelseaManchester United1-0
2016/17ArsenalChelsea2-1
2015/16Manchester UnitedCrystal Palace2-1 (a.e.t.)
2014/15ArsenalAston Villa4-0
2013/14ArsenalHull City3-2 (a.e.t.)
2012/13Wigan AthleticManchester City1-0
2011/12ChelseaLiverpool2-1
2010/11Manchester CityStoke City1-0
2009/10ChelseaPortsmouth1-0

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