FA Cup: Bradford tipped for repeat of former glories at Reading
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After seeing off Premier League pair Chelsea and Sunderland in the past two rounds, Bradford are now faced with a trip to Reading for an FA Cup quarter-final replay, having drawn 0-0 with the Royals at Valley Parade.
Reading had come through three away clashes with Championship sides prior to that stalemate, so their zeal for progression should not be written off out of hand, but the omens seem to be with Phil Parkinson’s men, who contested the 2013 Capital One Cup final at Wembley as a League Two club.
They’re 10/3 to win the match in 90 minutes, which looks big considering what they did to Jose Mourinho’s men at Stamford Bridge, but a more profitable way to play could lie in an old Bantams cup mantra.
Chairman Mark Lawn made it onto Sky Sports during his club’s 2012/13 Capital One Cup campaign sporting a ‘Keep Calm And Take It To Penalties’ t-shirt, after Bradford had disposed of their second opponent on the spin via that method (Arsenal at home).
They went into extra time on six occasions that season, four times in the Capital One Cup and twice in the FA Cup, so a dogged draw from the still-underdogs may well be worth backing at 12/5.
Former Sunderland striker Jonathan Stead had a wee dig at the BBC on Match of the Day after adding to John O’Shea’s own-goal opener against his old club a month ago.
Stead broke the deadlock before halftime at the weekend against Notts County, where Bradford drew. The 31-year-old is 7/2 to score his 12th goal of the campaign in front of the cameras.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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