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Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa Odds: Upset could be in store at the Memorial Stadium

The live FA Cup match on Saturday evening looks to have all the ingredients for an upset when Aston Villa travel to the Memorial Stadium to take on Bristol Rovers. The Premier League side are 4/7 odds on favourites to win the third round tie, but Paddy Power offer Rovers at a tempting 5/1, with the draw available at 13/5.

Rovers recently sacked their manager Paul Buckle and caretaker boss Shaun North will take charge of the team in front of the tv cameras. The Bristol side are out of form but an upset here would be in keeping with the romance of the cup and a struggling Villa side won't be looking forward to visiting the slightly dated surroundings of the Memorial Stadium.

For those who don't fancy backing Rovers outright it could be worth a look at their odds of 7/2 to win with the draw no bet, while Paddy Power offer 7/5 for Rovers to win or draw in the double chance market.

Rovers are currently nineteenth in League Two after losing four in a row and they have only won two of their last ten matches, which ultimately saw Buckle lose his job. They do have recent FA Cup history on their side though as on the four previous occasions that they made the third round they then went on to reach the fourth round each time, beating Premier League teams twice in the process.

Striker Scott McGleish was the joint top scorer in the FA Cup last season and he is 8/1 to score first on Saturday, although he has only managed six goals this term. His strike partner Matt Harrod has been in much better form, scoring three in his last three for a total of 11 for the season, and he can be backed at 8/1 to be first goalscorer.

Villa have conceded the opening goal in four of their last five matches, with Rovers 15/8 to score first, while Villa have conceded five goals in the opening 23 minutes in the last five. PaddyPower.com go 10/11 that the opening goal of Saturday's match is scored before and including the 23rd minute and that could be worth a punt.

Villa have needed a replay in two of the three FA Cup matches they have played against Bristol Rovers in the past and we fancy the Premier League strugglers will have a real battle on their hands again. They raised hopes among Villa fans with a 3-1 win over Chelsea recently but immediately undid all of their good work by losing 2-0 to Swansea at the weekend.

It means they have now won just two of their last nine matches and Alex McLeish is under increasing pressure according to the latest odds for the next manager to be sacked. His side have managed just two clean sheets in thirteen and both teams to score is priced 4/6, while over 2.5 goals is 8/13 odds on.

This match looks to have all the makings for a cup upset and Villa have a real battle to avoid embarrassment, with the odds of Rovers to win with three or four total goals in the match looking tempting at odds of 11/1 with paddypower.

Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa Form

Check the season's statistics for both Bristol Rovers and Aston Villa, plus the odds ahead of Saturday's match.

Bristol Rovers Stats | Aston Villa Stats

Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa Tips

Tip #1: Bristol Rovers to win with the draw no bet @ 7/2 with PaddyPower.com
Tip #2: Bristol Rovers to score first @ 15/8 with PaddyPower.com
Tip #3: First goal to be scored before and including the 23rd minute @ 10/11 with PaddyPower.com

Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa Odds

Match Odds

5/1 Bristol Rovers
13/5 Draw
4/7 Aston Villa

Correct Score Odds

17/1 Bristol Rovers 1-0
33/1 Bristol Rovers 2-0
16/1 Bristol Rovers 2-1
12/1 Draw 0-0
13/2 Draw 1-1
12/1 Draw 2-2
13/2 Aston Villa 1-0
13/2 Aston Villa 2-0
7/1 Aston Villa 2-1

First Goalscorer Odds

16/5 Darren Bent
7/2 Gabriel Agbonlahor
9/2 Nathan Delfouneso
5/1 Emile Heskey
11/2 Andreas Weimann
7/1 Charles N'Zogbia
15/2 Stephen Ireland
15/2 Marc Albrighton
8/1 Matt Harrod
8/1 Scott McGleish
8/1 Gary Gardner

Odds supplied by PaddyPower.com, who provide over 100 betting markets, including live in-running betting, for all of the weekend's FA Cup third round matches.

Posted: Thursday, 5th January 2012
Author: Chris James
Tags: fa cup, bristol rovers, aston villa, matt harrod, paddypower,

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