Weekly Articles "Road to Riches" by Rich 'Tighty' Prew
The Road to Riches Weekend of 31st January- 1st February
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Musselburgh, Sandown and Wetherby and on the all- weather at Lingfield and Newcastle.
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Tottenham v Manchester City.
- Cricket, England’s T20 tour of Sri Lanka continues in Pallakelle.
- Golf, the Phoenix Open on the USPGA and the Qatar Masters on the DP World Tour
- Tennis, ATP Montpellier Open
Free Tip
Cricket: 2026 T20 World Cup Ante-Post
The 10th ICC T20 World Cup hosted by India and Sri Lanka begins on February 7th running until March 8th, beginning with Pakistan and the Netherlands contesting the tournament opener in Colombo.
The T20 World Cup is now a biennial tournament and favourites this time India are defending champions having won in the West Indies in 2024 in the first tournament expanded to 20 teams.
The 20 teams are split into four groups, the top two from each group then play one of two Super 8 groups before the semi-finals and final.
Whilst T20 as a short form format is high variance the size of this competition mitigates that somewhat. A team will have to play nine games to win the tournament.
After Bangladesh’s withdrawal (out of England’s group) the four groups are as follows:
A: India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, Namibia
B: Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman
C: England, West Indies, Nepal, Italy, Scotland
D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada, UAE
World Rankings going into the tournament are as follows:
India
Australia
England
New Zealand
South Africa
Pakistan
West Indies
Sri Lanka
Groups A-B-C should be straightforward for the top ranked teams. Group D sees New Zealand and South Africa meet 9th ranked Afghanistan in familiar conditions to them including Rashid Khan having just beaten the West Indies 2-1 in a warm-up series in the UAE, which is a relatively tough draw for all three teams. Afghanistan reached the semi-finals of this tournament two years ago.
Ante-post odds at the time of writing with each-way terms at half the odds 1,2 are
India 11/8
Australia 4
England 5
South Africa 13/2
New Zealand 14
Pakistan 16
West Indies 20
Afghanistan 25
Sri Lanka 40
India are unsurprisingly the pre-tournament favourites to defend their title having established themselves firmly as the dominant force in white-ball cricket over recent years.
They were flawless across both their 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy campaigns (only a Travis Head masterclass in the 2023 World Cup final away from holding all three white-ball titles) and have won 10 of their previous 12 bilateral T20 series.
Even without Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma this time around, the squad still looks a formidable one with match-winners in every department.
Australia won this tournament in 2021 but failed to reach the semi-final stage in 2022 and 2024 but did win the 50-over World Cup in 2023 in India. There are still some fitness concerns around their bowling attack and are without Mitchell Starc, who retired from T20I’s last year, but the batting lineup looks a destructive one with plenty of IPL experience to draw upon.
England recently had an excellent series win in tough conditions against a Sri Lanka side that had gone 12 ODI series at home unbeaten before that. England actually suit spin-friendly conditions well in white-ball cricket with lots of all-round spin options and comparably shallow seam-bowling depth. I don’t see a lot of value in them as third favourites though.
South Africa (World Test Champions) had a narrow defeat to India in the 2024 final, needing only 26 runs from 24 balls before capitulating, whilst New Zealand have been runners-up on four occasions across ICC events since 2015 and are a frequent each-way choice for this column as an experienced and under-rated side. The two teams meet in Ahmedabad on February 14 in one of the standout group stage fixtures. New Zealand have warmed up for the tournament in India against the hosts.
Prior to the tournament, eight teams have been seeded for the Super 8 stage based on their T20I rankings: Australia, India, South Africa, and the West Indies in Group 1; England, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in Group 2 irrespective of their group finishing positions. I think that is good news for New Zealand, Group 2 appears to be a much weaker pot that Group 1.
Even in the unpredictable world of T20 cricket, an underdog winner appears a far stretch in such a lengthy tournament. Afghanistan were the big story from two years ago as they defeated New Zealand and Australia on their way to the final four and they will need to produce similar heroics once again in a difficult-looking Group D.
10 points each-way (1/2 1,2) New Zealand to win the T20 World Cup at 12/1 Betfred, Bet365, Ladbrokes/Coral, BetVictor
F1 in 2026
The new rules being brought in for 2026 are the biggest change in F1 for years and we've seen the cars for the first time this week at Shakedown testing in Barcelona.
Cars are smaller, nimbler and more environmentally friendly. They will be 30kg lighter, 10cm narrower and have engines with a near 50-50 split between electric and internal combustion power and use fully sustainable fuels. Chassis and engine rules have never both been changed at the same time to this extent.
There are new aerodynamic rules, and the power units, while of similar architecture to the past 12 years, have been significantly modified in terms of technology. The engines remain 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids, but the MGU-H, which recovers energy from the exhaust and turbo, has been removed, while the proportion of power produced by the hybrid part of the engine has been more or less doubled to about 50%.
This has required major changes to aerodynamics. Not only has the ground effect philosophy introduced in 2022 been abandoned, but movable front and rear wings have been introduced. That's to increase straight-line speed to enable more energy harvesting under braking.
For some time, there have been varying levels of concern expressed by the drivers about how this will affect the racing. The DRS overtaking aid has gone and instead there will be a push-to-pass button that gives extra electrical energy for a time.
The majority of the drivers will remain the same in 2026, but there are a few changes to look out for. Isack Hadjar, makes the step up from Racing Bulls to replace Yuki Tsunoda as Max Verstappen's team-mate at Red Bull. Taking Hadjar's seat at Red Bull's sister team will be 18-year-old Briton Arvid Lindblad.
Ten teams will become eleven this season when Cadillac, backed by US car giant General Motors, joins the grid. Cadillac have opted for experience over youth and chosen ex-Mercedes man Valtteri Bottas and former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, with 106 podium finishes between them, as their inaugural line-up. The American team will purchase and use power units from Ferrari for their first three seasons, with their own GM-developed engines set to arrive for 2029.
Audi are another new name for this season, having taken over the Sauber team who finished ninth in the 2025 constructors' championship.
Red Bull will begin an engine partnership deal with US car giant Ford, which is part-funding the power-units Red Bull are designing for the new regulations. That brings to an end Red Bull's partnership with Honda. The Japanese manufacturer will now be the works power unit supplier to Aston Martin.There is another significant engine change after Renault ended its F1 power unit programme. Renault's Alpine team will now be paying to use Mercedes engines.
The F1 calendar is once again 24 races starting in Australia in March and ending in Abu Dhabi
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page was updated on 1st January 2026. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,244.70 All bets have an ROI +2.41%
A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,244.70 a 1631% increase
The Road to Riches Weekend of 24th-25th January
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Cheltenham, Doncaster, Uttoxeter and Lingfield and on the all- weather at Newcastle.
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Arsenal v Manchester United
- Cricket, England’s ODI tour of Sri Lanka continues in Colombo
- NFL, The NFL play-offs: Conference Championships
- Golf, the Farmers Insurance Open on the USPGA and the Bahrain Championship on the DP World Tour
- Tennis, the Australian Open continues.
Free Tip
Rugby Union: the 2026 Six Nations
The first round of the 2026 Six Nations is next weekend. France and England both finished the 2025 Championship with 4 wins and 1 loss, France winning the title by winning one more bonus point.
The two teams are favourites for this edition:
France 8/11
England 5/2
Ireland 6/1
Scotland 14/1
Wales 125/1
Italy 125/1
There is a wrinkle this year in that it is a Sin Nations after a British Lions tour, and many of the British/Irish players have been on the go for 18 months solid. Traditionally this has had an impact on the Six Nations subsequent. We also see an impact this year in the volume of injuries in the England and Ireland player pool.
Here are France’s results in the Championship after a Lions Tour:
1998 - Winner (Grand Slam)
2002 - Winner (Grand Slam)
2006 - Winner
2010 - Winner (Grand Slam)
2014 - 4th
2018 - 4th
2022 - Winner (Grand Slam)
France a) tend to rest many first-choice players through their Summer tours and did last summer and b) had nearly a decade in the doldrums from 2011-2019. Apart from that period we can see that France have the pre-eminent performances in post-Lions Five/Six Nations tournaments.
France are understandably odds-on favourites for 2026 and in addition have three of their five fixtures at home, crucially opening the tournament in Paris against Ireland and finishing in Paris against England. Scotland away in Round 4 will be a challenge as always, but the 6/4 price about France winning a Grand Slam looks to be the way to play the favourites. Interestingly they have left out the experienced regular starters Alldritt, Penaud and Fickou ( who each would comfortably make every other squad in the competition), presumably with half an eye on the 2027 World Cup by which thime those three will be well into their 30s.
This year England also have three games at home but Scotland and France away.
2023 and 2024 winners Ireland (with a possible squad rebuild in its early stages) finished third last year and this year have have England and France away. One win from those maybe, two unlikely.
Scotland will hope to back up the brilliant performances of the Glasgow Warriors in the Champions Cup and have three games away but England and France at home. A better tournament than a 14/1 price implies is likely, but a tournament win? I don’t think so.
England are 10/11 to win the Triple Crown, Scotland away a meaningful barrier to this representing value. In the “without France” market England are 8/13 Ireland 2/1.
To finish bottom Wales and Italy are Evens each of two. Italy are fast improving and Wales really should be odds-on in this market. Wales do though have Italy at home and three games at home, Italy only two games at home.
As I write I am waiting for all of the six squads to be announced and for prices on sub-markets such as top try scorer and top point scorer to be fully formed.
In 2025 the brilliant French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored an unbelievable 8 tries, three ahead of Freeman and Sheehan with 5. For an odds-on team in 2026 he is likely to be a prohibitive favourite.
In top point scorer, 2025 Ramos the French full back Thomas Ramos, a career 85% kicker, scored 71 points, 26 ahead of second place. Likely to be a heavy favourite again given that injury permitting he’ll play all five games for the tournament favourite.
I intend to look at these markets in more detail next week once we know Week 1 teams with an eye on each-way value aside from Bielle-Biarrey and Ramos.
12 points France to win the Grand Slam at 6/4 widely available at all firms.
The new Rugby Nations League
The six rounds of cross-hemisphere fixtures for the new Nations Championship next year have been confirmed. Three rounds in the southern hemisphere in July will be followed by three more in the north in November, with the 2026 finals weekend for all 12 teams then taking place in London on week seven.
England will kick off their campaign with a July trip to South Africa, followed by games away to Fiji and Argentina. Ireland have been handed an away schedule that starts in Australia, moves onto Japan and then ends in New Zealand. France have New Zealand, Australia and Japan on their away list, while Scotland will face Argentina, South Africa and Fiji on their travels.
Rounding off the July window in the southern hemisphere are the matches involving Wales and Italy, the remaining two Six Nations countries. Wales have Fiji, Argentina and South Africa on their itinerary with Italy lined up against Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
The new cross-hemisphere tournament will then pause for a four-month break before resuming in Europe in November. The All Blacks have matches away to Scotland, Wales and England. South Africa will play Italy, France and Ireland, with Australia to face England, Scotland and Wales.
The seventh round of the new Championship will be a finals weekend that will be staged in London with double headers taking place across three days at Allianz Stadium Twickenham.
Top of the bill will be the meeting of the No.1 sides in the respective Northern and South Hemisphere groups and the cross-over fixtures will continue with second place versus second all the way to sixth place versus sixth.
Ratified by the World Rugby Council in 2023, the introduction of the Nations Championship is part of a broader package of reform to the global rugby calendars. Twelve nations will form two groups of six teams. The Six Nations teams represent the northern hemisphere, and will face the SANZAAR nations, plus invitational teams Japan and Fiji, who complete the line up representing the southern hemisphere.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page was updated on 1st January 2026. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,244.70 All bets have an ROI +2.41%
A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,244.70 a 1631% increase
The Road to Riches Weekend of 17th-18th January
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Ascot, Haydock, Lingfield and Taunton and on the all- weather at Southwell.
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Manchester United v Manchester City
- Rugby Union, European Champions Cup Pool matches
- Cricket, England’s ODI tour of Sri Lanka begins next week in Colombo
- NFL, The NFL play-offs: Divisional Round
- Golf, the American Express on the USPGA and the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour
- Tennis, the Australian Open begins next week
Free Tip
European Champions Cup Rugby Pool 4
Bristol v Bordeaux Sunday 1pm
The last round of Pool matches take place this weekend. The following teams are already through to the last 16: Glasgow, Sale, Leinster, Harlequins, Bordeaux-Begles, Bristol, Northampton.
With the likes of six-time winners Toulouse, three-time champions Saracens, English champions Bath and United Rugby Championship leaders Stormers yet to secure their places, the final round of pool fixtures should be tense.
In Pool 4 Bordeaux, defending champions are currently a point ahead of Bristol, and four points ahead of Northampton at the top of the pool. Northampton would expect to gain a five-point win at home to the Scarlets this weekend, and Bristol and Bordeaux play each other, the loser would be at risk of dropping out of the top two sides. Bristol and Bordeaux play before Northampton play (3.15pm Sunday) so both should be at full pelt to win the group.
This is important because the higher the seeding for the last sixteen, the longer you are guaranteed home advantage for the knockout stages. The top four teams from each pool qualify for the last 16, with the top two qualifying with home advantage.
Whilst the round of 16 follows a pre-determined format, the quarter-finals see home advantage given to the higher ranked team, based on a pre-determined match-up. As such the teams seeded 1 to 4 are guaranteed home advantage if they reach the quarter-final, and teams seeded 13 to 16 are guaranteed an away fixture if they do so. Whether a team ranked from 5 to 12 will play home or away will depend on other results in their section of the bracket.
Winning a pool reduces the risk of, for example, a long trip to South Africa or a tough away game at Saracens or Toulouse, teams likely to be in that 5-12 seeding range.
This should be a very high scoring game between two of the most attacking teams in Europe. For example, Bristol (4th in the English Prem with seven wins from 9 games) travelled to the altitude of Pretoria last weekend and scored 61 points conceding 49 in beating a Bulls side containing 10 South African Internationals. Earlier in the pool they scored 61 points in beating Pau, too.
Bordeaux meanwhile (4th in the French Top 14) put 50 points on Prem leaders Northampton last Sunday and this follows 50-21 and 46-33 Pool wins at home to the Scarlets and away at the Bulls respectively.
A differentiating factor here between two such attacking sides is that the Bordeaux pack thrashed Northampton last weekend and that power should guarantee them a majority of front foot ball.
11 points Bordeaux-Begles to win -5.5 points at 10/11 generally.
Squad cost ratios
Premier League clubs have voted to overhaul the league’s financial regulations from the start of the 2026-27 season. Squad cost ratio (SCR) will replace the league’s current profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), which limit club losses to a maximum of £105million ($137m) over a three-year period.
There was insufficient support for a proposal on Top to Bottom Anchoring. SCR will regulate clubs’ on-pitch spending to 85% of their football revenue and net profit/loss on player sales. Clubs will have a multi-year allowance of 30% that they can use to spend in excess of the 85%. Utilising this allowance will incur a levy and once the allowance is exhausted, they will need to comply with 85% or face a sporting sanction.
SCR was unpopular with low-revenue, middle-ranking aspirational clubs, and anchoring was unpopular with the very wealthiest clubs.
The proposal was originally to vote once on a total package, but then that was split into three sequential votes: first, anchoring; then a third uncontroversial sustainability measure; and finally, SCR. The Premier League says that the clubs could yet return to anchoring.
The biggest clubs, with access to Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup revenue, can spend much more money than the lower-earning clubs with smaller stadiums and much smaller commercial deals. There is nothing controlling the top limit of Champions League clubs’ spending. Commercial revenues are soaring and so too the broadcast rights from UEFA. One only needs to look at the new deals agreed for the 2027-33 cycle with the likes of Paramount+ in Britain and across Europe.
Six clubs that stood against SCR are six whom the Premier League would in other circumstances hold up for good financial management and shrewd strategy. They are Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Fulham and Leeds United. None of these six ever joined a rebel Super League. None ever breached the current financial controls.
There is a possibility that a club like Leeds or Fulham straying over that 85% spending-to-revenue ratio may have to pay a luxury-tax levy that ends up, in part, with Manchester United or Manchester City.
One does wonder what some clubs that voted for SCR see as the advantage for them. Burnley, with a turnover of around £140m, compared to the £650m or more that the biggest clubs enjoy, must have a plan for survival. But should they find themselves back in a Championship with the Football League having adopted the same SCR rules then it is hard to see how they, or others like them, can square the circle. This is a chart from The Athletic that summarises the current position relative to UEFA and new Premier league thresholds.
For those clubs like Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, for whom a place in a UEFA competition is crucial to compliance with SCR, there will be an even greater pressure. The new rules have wiped out the PSR techniques eg selling a hotel or a stadium-site venue within the group to generate compliant book profit. When the extra 30% threshold is breached and a points deduction looms, there truly will be no option but to sell players.
What made the Premier League different is the jeopardy of match day, the possibility of the challenger. Take that away and it diminishes everyone, from the wealthiest to the smallest earners. A Premier League in which the biggest clubs are protected from the effect of mistakes by virtue of their wealth, and a hierarchy that never changes, will be less attractive to the broadcasters whose billions of pounds fund the operation. Were that to happen, the clubs who voted against SCR will be those it costs the most.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page was updated on 1st January 2026. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,244.70 All bets have an ROI +2.41%
A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,244.70 a 1631% increase
The Road to Riches Weekend of 10th-11th January
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Kempton, Warwick and Wetherby and on the all- weather at Lingfield and Newcastle.
- Football, FA Cup Third Round.
- NFL, The Wild Card round begins the NFL play-offs
- Rugby Union, the third round of Pool matches in the European Rugby Champions Cup
- Golf, the Sony Open in Hawaii on the USPGA and the Dubai Invitational on the DP World Tour
- Tennis, ATP Adelaide and ASB Classic
Free Tip
European Rugby Champions Cup Pool Round 3
Saracens v Toulouse Sunday 5.30pm
Two European Competition heavyweights play this weekend in the third round of pool games. Saracens are three times winners of this competition, last in 2019 and runners-up once. Toulouse have won six times, last in 2024, four times runners-up.
Saracens in particular though are not a team of the same quality of those tournament winning teams. This year in the ERCC they beat the weakest of the French sides in the competition Clermont 47-10 at home before losing 28-23 to the Durban Sharks with a much-changed team, and it was job done with a losing bonus point gained.
They are in the middle of a rebuilding phase, shown by their sixth place in the current Prem table at the half way point of the season with 4 wins and 5 losses, most recently 28-36 in Leicester last weekend. Mark McCall, the director of rugby, was scathing about his side’s attitude and application. If Leicester can carve them open with such ease, to lead 26-7 at the interval and 34-14 after an hour, what will Toulouse and Glasgow Warriors do to them in the Champions Cup over the next two weekends?
Saracens are introducing a lot of young players onto the core of a team including Itoje, Farrell, Daly, George etc all experienced internationals.
Toulouse were European Champions in 2024 and semi-finalists last year losing to eventual winners Bordeaux-Begles. They were ante-post favourites for another European title this year and two rounds in retain that positioning at odds of 13/5.
This despite a dramatic loss in the second round 28-21 in Glasgow from 17-3 up. In the first round they beat the Sharks 56-19.
They are top of the French top 14 table with 10 wins from 14 games averaging 40 points a game, despite a surprise 27-30 loss to Perpignan last weekend with a much rotated team ahead of this game in London.
Here I would expect all the big guns in action from Ramos, Ntamack, Kinghorn and Dupont to Willis, Marchand, Cros, Flament and Meafou in the forwards. I expect them to justify -11.5-points on the spread with Saracens in a state of flux.
11 points Toulouse -11.5 points at 10/11 generally
Kicking Off
The NFL’s new kick-off rules this season have reinvigorated the play, with the return rate spiking this year. With more returns though have come more injuries, including a surge in concussions that could prompt another look at how to manage player safety during kick-offs.
Through this season, 79.3% of kick-offs had been returned, a big jump from the 31.7% return rate last season. The rate of concussions per 100 kick-offs rose from 0.09 in 2024 to 1.18 this season roughly five times the league’s baseline concussion rate on run or pass plays.
Kick-off injuries became a storyline almost immediately this season, when Philadelphia Eagles fullback Ben VanSumeren suffered a torn patella tendon on the opening kick-off of the season. New England Patriots running back Antonio Gibson, one of six players to record a kick return touchdown in 2025, suffered a big hit on a kick-off return in a Week 5 win against the Buffalo Bills. The injury resulted in a torn ACL and put him out for the season.
There have been 18 concussions on kick-off plays compared to just one in the same time period last season.
The League introduced dynamic kick-offs after just 22% of kickoffs were returned in 2023, the lowest rate in NFL history. The NFL had previously made changes to the play meant to reduce the number of returns because of the danger of high-speed collisions.
Team owners approved the new kickoff rules in a 29-3 vote in March 2024, hoping to make kickoffs both safer and more relevant.
Dynamic kick-offs cals for players on the kicking team to line up at the opposing 40-yard line, the receiving team between the 30- and 35-yard lines and returners in the “landing zone” (between the 20-yard line and the end zone).
The inaugural dynamic kickoff season saw a slight uptick in action (32.8% of kickoffs returned), and the NFL made the change permanent in the 2025 offseason while also making more tweaks in hopes of a more dramatic increase.
The most notable change is the placement of the ball at the 35-yard line on touchbacks (5 yards further up-field than in 2024 and 10 yards further than pre-dynamic kickoff). The thought was that giving the receiving team better field position on a touchback would incentivise the kicking team to aim for the landing zone and hope to make a stop on a return.
The intent of the dynamic kickoff remained the same through the changes: to bring the play back to life while eliminating the running start players had on traditional kickoffs that led to big collisions, concussions and other injuries.
This regular season there were more than twice the number of 40-plus-yard returns however there are now thoughts that the competition committee will consider more tweaks in an effort to confront the rising injuries.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page was updated on 1st October 2025. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be inning + £65,159 All bets have an ROI +2.45%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,158, a 1629% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 3rd-4th January
Happy New Year Everyone
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Newcastle, Sandown and Wincanton and on the all- weather at Lingfield and Southwell.
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Manchester City v Chelsea
- Cricket, the fifth Ashes Test Match in Sydney starting on Saturday
- NFL, Week 18 of the regular season
- Tennis, ATP Opens in Brisbane and Hong Kong
Free Tip
FA Cup ante-post
Ahead of the third-round next weekend, and following Crystal Palace’s win last season at 33-1, the annual attempt to spot some each-way ante-post value in the FA Cup.
A “non-top six” team has made the final in 12 of the last 20 years though a top six side has won the competition in 17 of those years.
These are the current odds before the sides from the top two divisions enter the competition:
Man C 9/2
Liverpool 5
Arsenal 6
Chelsea 8
Newcastle 10
Man U 16
Aston Villa 18
Tottenham 20
My thesis is that whilst every top team will rotate their line-ups in this competition especially after the busy Christmas period the priorities for the top 8-9 in the league (win the title or make the top six or qualify for Europe) and the bottom six (avoid relegation) particularly conflict with this competition and there are teams who aren’t making the top six or at risk of going down who should be prioritising this tournament. Frankly it doesn’t always work out like that, and each year I’ll raise an eyebrow when a team in 12th place in the Premier League rotates and loses in the FA Cup come February/March.
These days there is also another source of variance, no FA Cup replays, which in principle increases the odds of upsets over a one-off tie rather than bigger teams being able to have a home replay or second chance if the first game was at home.
This year I alighted on these possible teams for each-way value: Each-way terms are routinely ½ 1,2.
Everton 25/1
Bournemouth 25/1
Brighton 25/1
Fulham 40/1
Sunderland 66/1
Everton though have drawn Sunderland at home, so we can draw a line through them. Bournemouth are away at Newcastle, the same applies. Brighton are away at Manchester United.
Fulham have Middlesbrough at home, a tough Championship side admittedly.
Fulham are currently 10th in the Premier League, 13 points clear of the relegation places and fit the criteria to me always accepting that even if they progress a tough draw can happen in any round.
10 points each-way (1/2 1,2) Fulham to win the FA Cup at 40-1 Bet365 and William Hill
Holding on
Watch any NFL game and you will see offensive linemen striving to stop pass rushers reaching their Quarterback yet holding is routinely not called by today’s NFL officials. Coincidentally (or not), the NFL wants yards and points and offensive excitement.
Before 1978, offensive linemen couldn’t extend their hands to block. They had to keep their fists together and elbows out before the NFL realized that making it easier to block defensive linemen would open up the passing game.
Still, it has now got out of control. Late in a mid-season 8 game between the Vikings and Chargers, Prime Video played clips of all-pro left tackle Joe Alt’s plays during his first game back from a high ankle sprain. In every one of them, he was holding the pass rusher, to some degree.
At this point, teams should be coaching their offensive linemen to do it. It’s similar to the Legion of Boom’s approach to covering receivers. Hold them on every play because the officials won’t bog the game down by constantly throwing flags.
As to holding, there are times when they never throw a flag. Put simply, the officials have allowed the sheer volume of holding fouls to overpower the system.
The NFL wants yards and points and bets and viewers. Calling every hold that happens would directly impact each of those valuable factors of modern-day pro football.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page was updated on 1st October 2025. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be inning + £65,159 All bets have an ROI +2.45%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,158, a 1629% increase.
