In The Mixer: 6 teams tipped to make a run at the FA Cup
Content Editor at Free Super Tips, Alex was born in the shadow of Old Trafford and is an avid Man Utd fan. After graduating from university he combined his love of football, writing and betting to join FST and now closely follows goings-on in all of the top European leagues.
In The Mixer is FST’s weekly column where we catch up with our team of football betting experts and get their opinion on the hot topic of the week.
The FA Cup third round gets underway this week with a trio of games on Thursday and we’ve tasked our experts to pick their winner of the 2025 instalment of the oldest football competition in the world.
An impressive six different teams are represented by our seven experts, reflecting the wide-open nature of the cup and the impressive performances of some of the lesser-fancied teams from outside the Big Six.
FA Cup winner odds
- Manchester City – 7/2
- Liverpool – 5/1
- Arsenal – 7/1
- Chelsea – 7/1
- Tottenham – 10/1
- Newcastle – 12/1
- Manchester United – 14/1
- Aston Villa – 16/1
- Brighton – 20/1
- Bournemouth – 33/1
- Crystal Palace – 33/1
- West Ham – 33/1
James Mason
Having stumbled in the Premier League title race, cup competitions could be Chelsea’s best chance of silverware this season and the FA Cup is a trophy head coach Enzo Maresca will be eyeing up.
The Blues have a plethora of attacking options to choose from, spearheaded by England international Cole Palmer, and the large squad size means they can rotate and keep everyone fresh for the biggest games.
If they can tighten up at the back, potentially with a January signing to aid the injury problems, they could go all the way in this competition.
Jamie Griffith
While the boring notion of a big-six club lifting the trophy is the likely outcome, it could be worth backing an in-form Bournemouth to go far at a tasty each-way price.
Andoni Iraola has worked wonders with the Cherries, who have now gone eight games without a defeat following their 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday.
They are strong in defence and dangerous in attack while, perhaps most importantly, they are very capable of beating the big boys.
Bournemouth have already beaten Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United this term, which bodes well as they target a deep run in the FA Cup.
Henry Hardwicke
I have it between the Premier League’s top teams, and of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, I think the Gunners are the value bet.
Clearly, Arsenal could have hoped for a kinder third-round tie than a clash with Manchester United at the Emirates, but United are a mile off the force of old and I don’t see how the tie with the Red Devils justifies Mikel Arteta’s men being fourth favourties for the FA Cup.
Arsenal are the clear pick behind Liverpool this season and 15-2 seems a good offer.
Jack Ogalbe
Nottingham Forest famously never lifted the FA Cup under Brian Clough but Nuno Espirito Santo has them playing really well. They have already beaten Premier League leaders Liverpool and last year’s Wembley winners Manchester United away from home this season, and won’t fear facing anybody in this competition.
While Forest’s priority could be to qualify for Europe for the first time in 30 years, they have a strong enough squad to simultaneously mount a cup run.
A third-round tie against struggling Luton looks exceedingly winnable and their outright odds of 50-1 make them an even more tempting prospect.
Tom McGarry
A traditional big-six club has lifted the FA Cup in 14 of the last 16 seasons, but that trend could change this year with so many mid-ranking Premier League teams performing above expectations.
Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Fulham are among those thriving, but preference is for a Brighton side that have reached the semi-finals of this competition in two of the last six seasons.
Boasting a squad that contains plenty of strength in depth, Brighton could rotate through the opening rounds before putting all their eggs in the FA Cup basket as the season progresses.
Having suffered just four league defeats all campaign, the Seagulls are tough to beat and may be the value play in this season’s competition.
Aidan Perkins
Manchester City’s title defence has not gone to plan and Pep Guardiola will instead be focused on ensuring his side finish in the top four in the Premier League this season.
He will also be targeting FA Cup glory in 2025, though, and City are favourites to salvage something from what has been a disappointing campaign by lifting the trophy at Wembley.
City have won the FA Cup twice in the last six years and obviously have a squad good enough to go all the way in the competition. They can take advantage of the fact that Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea’s attention may be elsewhere in the second half of the season and they have been handed a very agreeable third-round tie at home to League Two Salford.
Joe Casey
Chelsea have reached the FA Cup final in four of the last seven editions and they could add to that tally this season.
While many of the other teams at the head of the market will be playing top-level European football at the business end of the campaign, the Blues can wheel out their second team in the Conference League and should benefit from that in this competition.
Enzo Maresca’s team have not been at their best recently but showed earlier in the campaign that they can go toe-to-toe with anyone on their day and have a routine third-round clash against Morecambe.
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