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BORO TO CONTINUE CUP RUN 12-4-06
By Dougie Walker of Betting Zone.
Middlesbrough and Charlton lock horns again in their FA Cup quarter-final replay on Wednesday night for the right to face West Ham in the semi-final.
With the game to be shown live on BBC1, there are a whole host a betting markets to get our teeth into.
Unfortunately, there are no markets available for when the first mention of both managers' England credentials will be made. If there were though, I would go for within the opening two minutes of coverage.
Both Steve McClaren and Alan Curbishley have been interviewed for the post with McClaren apparently having had a second meeting on Monday.
No doubt the winning manager here will see his odds come in, such is the fickle nature of the market.
The first match between the sides was a fairly drab affair with Charlton slightly edging it in terms of clear-cut chances created.
However they were unable to take any and the game ultimately finished in stalemate.
Charlton have in fact recorded six goalless encounters from their last nine outings, something which will undoubtedly be a worry for 'Curbs'.
It seems that when Darren Bent doesn't score, Charlton generally don't. And with namesake Marcus cup-tied, finding the net would again appear to be the chief concern for them here.
Darren Bent was rested for the weekend stalemate at Everton and is sure to return here, hopefully raring to go from a Charlton point of view.
Middlesbrough don't have any such problems with an embarrassment of riches up front. Mark Viduka has been in particularly good form of late and there are no doubts as to the quality of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Yakubu.
Although 'Boro were disappointing whilst going down 2-1 at home to Newcastle on Sunday, I don't view this as being an issue here.
McClaren has stated openly that his priority for the remainder of the season is the cup competitions and this is undoubtedly going to be in the players' minds also.
Despite a number of injuries, 'Boro should still have plenty of class in midfield to supply Viduka et al.
Indeed, Viduka looks to be first choice striker right now and for this reason, he looks an attractive price at 6/1 (Ladbrokes & Bet365) to open the scoring.
As does indeed the general price of 11/10 for a Middlesbrough win. Their firepower alone should be enough to secure the points against a Charlton side currently firing blanks.
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