Weekend Betting, Saturday 7th January

Into 2012 we go, and it's FA Cup 3rd Round (and Scottish Cup 4th Round) weekend. Plenty of opportunities for shocks, they tell us. Plenty of opportunity for betting, I tell you. Here are some pointers:

• There's a growing trend towards making wholesale changes for the FA Cup, particularly among the Premier League clubs (nobody in the SPL has a big enough squad to make wholesale changes and still field a strong line-up). With that in mind, it's worthwhile waiting to see teamsheets before backing or opposing certain teams. 2 fixtures that immediately come to mind regarding this are Barnsley v Swansea and Norwich v Burnley. In both matches, if both teams were at full-strength, then Swansea (6/4) and Norwich (18/19) should both prevail fairly comfortably, but both sides are likely to prioritise their Premier League campaigns, and could send out much-changed sides, giving an opportunity to the Championship clubs


• In-form lower league club at home to out-of-form Premier League club? Those sound like the conditions required for a cup shock. 2 prime examples of where these conditions apply are at MK Dons (7/4) and Swindon (21/10), who host misfiring QPR and Wigan respectively. Those prices will become even more appealing should the visiting sides make changes, as highlighted above. Cardiff (4/1) are also well worth a punt when they travel to West Brom


• There are some ties, though, that should surely merit comfortable wins for the favourites, and could therefore form part of a reasonably safe accumulator, namely Everton, Fulham, Sheffield United and Tottenham


• In the Scottish Cup, a similar coupon can be put together: back Hearts, Motherwell, Partick and St Johnstone to get the job done on Saturday. Shock-wise, if you're feeling really adventurous, then have a wee look at Arbroath v Rangers. Arbroath are going well in the 2nd Division and are unbeaten at home this season- Rangers travel to Gayfield without a number of key players, and with uncertainty surrounding the future of striker Nikica Jelavic, their attacking edge has been blunted of late. The draw is available at 13/2