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Northampton v Ulster Odds: Saints hot favourites in the quarter final betting

Northampton Saints take on Ulster in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup on Sunday afternoon at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes. The match won't be at Saints' usual home ground of Franklin's Gardens but the home side are still long odds on favourites at 1/5 with Paddy Power bookmakers, while Ulster can be backed at 10/3 and the draw is available at 25/1.

Much of the pre-match talk would suggest that this match is already a foregone conclusion but it is far from that even though Northampton do offer a formidable proposition. They are fourth in the Aviva Premiership after winning three in three and scored at least 20 points in each of those.

The Saints' cause has certainly been helped by the fact that their Six Nations contingent have returned from international duty as they had lost four in a row when the likes of Chris Ashton, Ben Foden, Tom Wood and Dylan Hartley were away. For a bit of value it could be worth a look at the odds of the first try of Sunday's match being scored by any forward at odds of 9/4 with PaddyPower. Meanwhile, Saints boast one of the top rated Heineken Cup performers in flanker Phil Dowson, who is the fifth best player in the competition according to the stats.

Northampton will have to do without the services of Joe Ansbro this weekend but boast a strong squad that won six from six in the Pools. They lost at the quarter-final stage to Munster last season but will be stronger for the experience and could edge out Ulster.

Ulster though will not be afraid to scrap though and are on a fine run of form themselves, winning six in a row in the Magners League to take them to second in the league and have lost just one of their last eleven in all competitions. They too have scored at least 20 points in their last five matches and they look to offer value in the handicap market as they can be backed at odds of 10/11 with an advantage of +10 points with PaddyPower.com.

Also for a bit of value it could be worth a punt on Ulster scoring first in the match at odds of 6/5 with Northampton short odds in a lot of the markets. Ulster do have injury doubts over Darren Cave and Declan Fitzpatrick, while Stephen Ferris is definitely out. It is the first time that Ulster have reached the knockout stage of the Heineken Cup in 12 years and they will want to take advantage of every opportunity.

We fancy Northampton will have learned from their Cup exit last season and with so much strength in their English Six Nations winning contingent, they should win through to the semi-finals. The sides have met twice before, with one win apiece, and Saints could take the third by a margin of 1-5 points which is available at odds of 4/1 in a match that might not be as one sided as the bookmakers think.

Northampton v Ulster Tips

Tip #1: Ulster to win with a handicap advantage of +10 points @ 10/11 with PaddyPower.com
Tip #2: Northampton to win by a margin of 1-5 points @ 4/1 with PaddyPower.com
Tip #3: Any forward to score the first try of the match @ 9/4 with PaddyPower.com

Northampton v Ulster Odds

Match Betting

1/5 Northampton
25/1 Draw
10/3 Ulster

Handicap Odds

10/11 Northampton -10 points
10/11 Ulster +10 points
20/1 Draw

Winning Margin Odds

4/1 Northampton by 1-5 points
10/3 Northampton by 6-10 points
4/1 Northampton by 11-15 points
6/1 Northampton by 16-20 points
15/2 Ulster by 1-5 points
12/1 Ulster by 6-10 points
22/1 Ulster by 11-15 points
40/1 Ulster by 16-20 points

Odds supplied by PaddyPower.com, who provide a variety of betting markets for this match and all the weekend's Heineken Cup fixtures.

Posted: Friday, 8th April 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: heineken cup, northampton, ulster, chris ashton, paddypower,

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