FA Cup, 4th round, Monday, 10/02/2025 at 20:45
Just don’t stumble over a fourth division team! Crystal Palace, very stable in the league, have to travel to Doncaster at the end of the 4th round. A win is mandatory, and the fans would prefer their team to show who the top club is from the start.
Of course, games at such lower-tier clubs are never that easy. In my Doncaster Crystal Palace tip, however, I will tell you why I am still going for a 0-1 handicap here and saying: the favorite has everything under control!
The sixth-best away team in the Premier League? Of course, they can’t embarrass themselves against a fourth division team! Crystal Palace can take a close look at their opponents before their own FA Cup match, as it is not until Monday that they will face their own opponents.
With two defeats in their last 13 games, the team is consistently performing well in the league, and three of their last four matches have even been won without conceding a goal – and all of them away from home.
On October 5, the Eagles last lost a home game, and so you really can’t blame them for a 0-1 defeat to the league leaders. One goal conceded in the last six games, that’s really strong.
The team, coached by Oliver Glasner, has definitely found consistency, and Chelsea, Brighton or Manchester City have not been able to beat them. But before the Premier League resumes, the FA Cup is on the program.
A few weeks ago, the eagles started the competition here against Stockport, but didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory in the narrow 1-0 win. Well, it wasn’t played away either, so the performance can’t have been particularly convincing.
Is the FA Cup a competition that the team basically likes? Four times in the last five years, Crystal Palace failed in the third round, which doesn’t sound like a great love.
Well, Brighton, Derby County, Wolverhampton, Southampton and Everton, some eliminations can be explained by opponents on a par. In 2022, the Eagles also appeared in the semi-finals.
One thing is clear in any case: there must be no defeat against Doncaster, with three divisions in between. If we look at our German bookmakers, they also consider it to be quite unrealistic.
11.0 to 1.25, the average odds are clear. Since Crystal Palace is currently defending so well, especially away from home, I took a look at the “win to nil” bet.
Interwetten offers odds of 1.95 for this! Not bad, but here you also have the opportunity to place the €11 free bet. With the code “SkiWM25” you are in, and contrary to the name, it applies to all conceivable sports.
Incidentally, between 2008 and 2012, both clubs played against each other in the Championship, and then in 2019 there was a duel in the FA Cup, which went 2-0 to the favorites.
Meanwhile, Doncaster has retired to League Two, but at least it is one of the best teams here. In second place, they are right in the thick of the promotion fight, despite only winning half of their matches.
Since the beginning of October, Doncaster have only played three games there without conceding a goal, and recently they suffered a 5-2 defeat against Chesterfield. The fact that the team even made it to the fourth round of the FA Cup is largely thanks to their luck in the games.
After beating Barrow 1-0 in the first round, they faced Kettering, which the Rovers won 2-1 after extra time. It was to be even more exciting against Hull City in the third round.
A 1-1 draw took both teams to a penalty shootout after 120 minutes, where Doncaster had the stronger nerves. So a second division team has already been knocked out, now Crystal Palace is to follow suit.
Crystal Palace has earned a reputation in the Premier League for being unbeatable away from home – so the trip to a fourth division side in the FA Cup shouldn’t be a problem! The bookmakers’ odds are clear, and so is my assessment.
I am impressed by the Eagles’ progress, Oliver Glasner has built a particularly strong defense. Doncaster Rovers are not doing badly in League Two, but with a win rate of 50 percent, they are not flying high either.
Since 1956, they have only reached the 5th round in the FA Cup once, and six years ago they were knocked out by the Eagles. Ultimately, I think the guests are too experienced for anything to go wrong here, so I’m betting:
Crystal Palace wins by at least two goals!
