Football – England – FA Cup 1st Round
Saturday 8th November 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson will be looking for a positive reaction following his side’s unexpected 1-2 home defeat to Scunthorpe United last Saturday when they take on League Two outfit Carlisle United in the first round of the FA Cup this afternoon.
The Posh slumped to their third League One defeat on the trot as a result of the loss to Scunthorpe which followed previous defeats against Crewe Alexandra and Coventry City and they now sit on the fringe of the play-off pack in 7th place.
But Peterborough will be very aware of their need to bounce back with a win here today which will hopefully kick-start their League One promotion campaign and with home advantage against a side who are a division below them, they won’t get a better chance to do just that.
Visitors Carlisle United will also no doubt enjoy a distraction from their disappointing League Two season thus far as they currently sit third from bottom in the division just three points above the relegation duo Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United.
Carlisle have won two of their last six matches overall, and these two rare successes were both at their Brunton Park ground with wins over Stevenage and Oxford United 3-0 and 2-1 respectively, and are both currently in the bottom half of League Two along with The Cumbrians.
Carlisle have won on the road just twice in their last ten matches in all competitions and these were at Accrington Stanley in the Johnstones Paint Trophy and bottom club Hartlepool United in a league fixture.
Peterborough’s attacking strength and quality should be too much for the visitors despite Posh’s recent woes, and I fully expect a comfortable home win here today with Peterborough also covering the -1 line. Could be a 2-0 home win perhaps.
Pick: Peterborough United AH-1 @ 1.83 bet365
