Last updated January 15th, 2022
Compare FA Cup betting odds 2021/22 for the outright winner from the top bookies plus claim free bets, which are on the Just Bookies home page.
FA Cup Odds – Outright Winner Betting
To Win FA Cup 2021/22 Betting; To Lift The Trophy; Best odds bold; Each-Way Place Terms: 1/2 odds 1,2.
Big Clubs To Fore In FA Cup Odds But Will Format Change Upset Trend?
The five teams who between them have lifted the trophy in 25 of the last 28 seasons again top the bookmakers’ FA Cup odds for the 2020-21 edition of the famous competition, writes Nick Dorrington.
Arsenal are the holders after triumphing at Wembley for the fourth time in the last seven years by defeating Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in last season’s final. It was their 14th success in the competition, putting them two ahead of Manchester United at the top of the historical rankings.
All of last season’s semi-finalists were part of that group of five teams who have dominated the FA Cup since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, with Arsenal and Chelsea joined in the final four by United and Manchester City. Liverpool are the other member of the collective. The five of them are the five early favourites in the betting for this year’s competition.
Given that between them they have won 11 of the last 12 FA Cups, it is fair to say that the winner is most likely to come from that group. In addition to Arsenal’s recent successes, Man City and Chelsea have both reached at least the semi-finals in three of the last four years, while Man Utd have done so in two of the last three.
Liverpool are actually the odd one out here, having been eliminated in the fifth round or earlier in each of the last five seasons. They are a superb side and ended their 30-year wait for another league success by dominating the Premier League last season, but the FA Cup just doesn’t seem to be a priority for them at this moment in time.
Add Tottenham Hotspur to the aforementioned five teams and the traditional Premier League big six are actually the only teams ranked at 10/1 or lower with the top recommended UK bookies to lift this season’s trophy. Leicester may have punctured the established top six in the league last season, and may well do so again, but squad depth issues probably justify them being closer to 20/1 with most firms.
In between are a Wolverhampton Wanderers team who seem tailor-made for a good run in the cup competitions and could be a worthy outside bet for the FA Cup. They regularly perform well against the Premier League’s best teams in one-off matches and they made it through to the semi-final of the FA Cup two years ago. Without European competition to stretch their squad, they have the ability to go deep this time around.
Their league campaign might end up taking precedent if they manage to get themselves into the European picture there, but after another summer of pretty significant investment, Everton certainly have the talent to have a good go at the cup. Outside of that, perhaps a Brighton, Southampton or West Ham could put a run together, but it would likely take a kind draw.
By the time the 2020-21 final rolls around, it will have been 41 years since a team from outside the top flight last lifted the FA Cup. There have been four lower-league finalists since, most recently Cardiff in 2008, but it is difficult to see another emerging this season.
The Championship is an extremely competitive league and teams embroiled in the promotion race there simply don’t have resources to spare. It is six seasons since a second-tier side last made the semis and all eight of last season’s quarter-finalists also came from the EPL.
Professional teams in the third tier down will simply hope for the opportunity to take on one of the Premier League big guns. There were scant giant killings in last year’s competition. A fair few Championship sides knocked out top flight opposition in the early rounds, but League One’s Tranmere were the only side from further down the pyramid to eliminate a Premier League side in their third-round triumph over Watford.
There may be more opportunities for upsets this time around as there will be no replays following drawn matches in order to help ease fixture congestion in this truncated domestic season. All ties will be settled on the day, which means top flight teams have a little less margin for error against lower-league opposition. That is something that does not appear to have been factored into the FA Cup odds for outright winner by the betting operators.
Long before all the professional sides enter the competition in January 2021, nearly 650 amateur sides will enter the qualifying rounds in an attempt to be one of 32 to reach the first round proper. Two teams from the eighth tier made it through to that stage last season, a feat their bredren will seek to replicate this time around.