The FA Cup 2nd Round Betting

The greatest domestic cup football competition on earth goes into its second round this weekend with 21 exciting ties containing teams from the lower echelons of English football. All those involved will be looking to progress to round three in the hope of drawing one of the big guns from the Premiership or Championship and thus producing a potentially lucrative and exciting tie for the club and supporter. The main bulk of the games will be played on the traditional 1st Saturday of December; however the Friday night prior sees Bradford host Millwall, Stockport welcome Wycombe Wanderers, whilst King's Lynn, who are one of the seven non league sides still in the competition host high flying league one side Oldham.

There are some sides that remain in the competition with fairly impressive records in recent years. Scunthorpe United, who host Wrexham on Saturday have made the third round in eight of the last nine seasons – a fantastic record for a team who have really only ever populated the lower leagues of English football. Scunthorpe in the last few seasons have achieved exactly what most lower league sides are looking for from the FA Cup. They have managed to earn lucrative away ties with Chelsea and Manchester City in the last two campaigns, earning much needed revenue for the club and huge interest for their loyal supporters. This season is no different for them as they will fully expect to beat their Welsh opposition on Saturday. The small Glanford Park side are in form and are riding high in league one. They also have some useful players and some exciting bright young talent in Billy Sharp and Andrew Keogh who are reportedly attracting the interest on Championship and Premiership sides.

Wycombe who are away to Stockport County have a good giant killing record in the FA Cup, whereas Southern League side Hereford and their legends Ronnie Radford and Ricky George will be forever remembered for their felling of giants Newcastle United back in 1972's FA Cup. Previous winners are present even at this early stage; Bury won this special trophy twice in three years at the turn of the 20th Century and Fallen giants of European football and FA Cup past champions Nottingham Forest have also had their name inscribed on this prestigious silverware more than once. Bury host local rivals Chester this weekend whilst Forest play away on Sunday against non-league minnows Salisbury, who have no FA Cup history or pedigree – just one example of the special nature of this competition. Looking further through the fixtures at the MK Dons' game against Blackpool, it's hard not to think of Wimbledon's iconic 1988 FA Cup final victory over Liverpool and the 1953 'Matthews Final' which was inspired by the majestic performance of Blackpool's Stanley Matthews against Bolton in their 4-3 victory; - it's a fixture list steeped in history, which the magic of the FA Cup brings.

Below is a full list of this weekend's FA Cup fixture programme with kick off times and best available prices in brackets – enjoy!

Friday
Bradford (11/10) Draw (9/4) Millwall (11/4) 19:45
Stockport (6/4) Draw (9/4) Wycombe (17/10) 19:45
King s Lynn (6/1) Draw (3/1) Oldham (4/7) 20:00

Saturday
Hereford (13/8) Draw (9/4) Port Vale (6/4) View Odds 13:00
Aldershot (1/2) Draw (11/4) Basingstoke (6/1) 14:00
Barnet (2/1) Draw (9/4) Northampton (11/8) 15:00
Brighton (4/9) Draw (10/3) Stafford Rangers (15/2) 15:00
Bristol Rovers (7/5) Draw (9/4) Bournemouth (15/8) 15:00
Bury (1/1) Draw (9/4) Chester (11/4) 15:00
Darlington (13/8) Draw (9/4) Swansea (6/4) 15:00
Macclesfield (7/4) Draw (9/4) Hartlepool (6/4) 15:00
Mansfield (15/8) Draw (9/4) Doncaster (7/5) 15:00
Milton Keynes Dons (13/8) Draw (9/4) Blackpool (8/5) 15:00
Rushden & Diamonds (5/4) Draw (9/4) Tamworth (11/5) 15:00
Scunthorpe (8/15) Draw (3/1) Wrexham (13/2) 15:00
Swindon (4/7) Draw (13/5) Morecambe (11/2) 15:00
Torquay (15/8) Draw (23/10) Leyton Orient (6/4) 15:00
Tranmere (8/11) Draw (5/2) Peterborough (5/1) 15:00

Sunday
Bristol City (4/6) Draw (5/2) Gillingham (9/2) 13:00
Salisbury (7/1) Draw (11/4) Nottingham Forest (8/15) 13:10

Good luck with your selections!

Ed Note: Make all your FA Cup 2nd Round bets at Blue Square

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