ALTRINCHAM v BURTON – Pick: 2 – 15 November 2012

Brewers look to finish off Altrincham in cup replay

FA Cup & League Cup Tips

Football – England – FA Cup 1st Round Replay

Thursday 15th November 2012 – Kickoff:  1945hrs

Altrincham and Burton Albion do battle again at Altrincham’s Moss Lane ground on Thursday night which concludes the midweek FA Cup action for this week, and this replay will determine who goes into the hat for the second round.

These two sides shared an entertaining 3-3 draw in the previous match at Burton, and it took a last-gasp equaliser from Burton Albion striker Calvin Zola to save The Brewers’ blushes and took the match to a replay. However, two of Altrincham’s goals were courtesy of own-goals from Nathan Stanton and Damien McCrory and it’s hard to see lightning strike twice again tonight.

Delving a bit deeper into Altrincham’s home form in all competitions, you’ll notice that Alty have won just twice in their last twelve matches (5-0 v Histon and 3-1 v Bradford Park Avenue) but Histon have won on the road just once in seven matches in the BSN, and Bradford Park Avenue’s away form has been indifferent of late.

Altrincham striker Damien Reeves (15 goals) is their main strike weapon, and has Duncan Watmore (4 goals) backing him up.

Burton will have been mightily relieved to have earned a replay against the Blue Square North side and they’ve had time to re-group. Since the first tie they’ve produced mixed results in their following two League Two away matches; a 2-1 win at Plymouth was followed up with a 0-1 loss at Cheltenham Town but their latter opponents are currently sitting in third place.

The Brewers have also been a bit up-and-down in recent away matches with wins at Rochdale, Southend United and Plymouth Argyle, but have lost at League Two leaders Gillingham and third placed Cheltenham. However, they do have a few key attacking players in striker Calvin Zola (6 goals) who baled them out in the first match, defender Alex Diamond (3 goals) and Jacques Maghoma (4 goals, 3 assists) along with striker Billy Kee who hit 12 goals in 14 starts last season for The Brewers.

In summary, two own-goals helped out Altrincham in the previous match and I’ll back that this won’t happen again on Thursday night with the League Two side making sure of it this time around. Possible scoreline of 2-1 to Burton Albion.

Pick:  Burton Albion straight win @ 2.00 William Hill