Betting: Premier League big boys could cause FA Cup chaos

In a curious quirk of the FA Cup, every Premier League side in the competition has been handed a fifth round draw against a team from lower down the footballing pyramid, a situation that will have bookmakers praying for an upset or two this weekend. Even more than usual.

Of the eight ties played across the next few days, only Leicester (8/5) are odds against when they head to face Millwall at the New Den, the rest of the games have got extremely short priced favourites.

An eight-fold of all the Premier League sides to win in 90 minutes pays a shade under 30/1 (31.0) with Betway at the time of writing.

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With the likes of Burnley (30/100), Manchester City (9/20), and Chelsea (2/5) in action across Saturday, plenty of punters will be combining these short priced selections into accumulators that could run into Sunday's two matches.

Lincoln City have already claimed two Championship scalps on their journey to this stage of the competition but the Imps face another definite step up in class as they head to Turf Moor where Sean Dyche's Burnley have been impeccable this term.

Manchester City and Chelsea are both away to second tier sides but at 9/20 (1.45) and 2/5 (1.40) respectively, they're expected to be too strong for their hosts.

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Tottenham (4/5) and Manchester United (4/11) are both in Europa League action on Thursday but both teams are odds-on to complete what could be seven out of eight wins in normal time for the top flight sides.

If any multiples are still alive going into Monday's clash which sees Arsenal (2/11) make the trip to Sutton United then the bookies will be looking at a serious payout.

Alan Alger from Betway isn't convinced, though: "I think accumulator punters have had their fingers burned too many times with FA Cup favourites in recent years. It presents a decent puzzle for punters and bookmakers alike and I'd expect to see a fair spread of money on all outcomes and selections", he said.

Betway will also be offering live streaming of five FA Cup matches across the weekend, the exceptions being the three matches played at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

The team most likely to spoil this clean sweep, of course, are Leicester City. Claudio Ranieri is the sack race favourite and the Foxes have not scored a league goal in 2017 yet, but saw off local rivals Derby 3-1 in their fourth round replay at the King Power Stadium.

The Italian would dearly love a cup run to ease the pressure but with a midweek Champions League clash with Sevilla looming, plenty of changes are expected from the visitors. With that in mind, leaving out the Premier League champions, the seven fold is available at over 12/1 (13.0).

Chelsea are the 7/2 (4.50) joint-favourites with Manchester City to claim the final piece of domestic silverware this season closely followed by Arsenal (9/2) and Manchester United (9/2).