Bill Edgar: Why Lukaku can score first again and City can win without conceding

Romelu Lukaku has specialised in scoring in the second quarter of matches for Manchester United, with nine of his 15 goals this season coming in that time period. He would have added another against Arsenal on Sunday but for a fine save by Bernd Leno in the 37th minute. That makes the Belgian striker a decent bet to score the opening goal away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup on Saturday evening, and he is 5-1 with the Betfair Sportsbook to do so.

Bournemouth’s 2-0 win away to Huddersfield Town on Saturday underlined their propensity for achieving comfortable victories this season. They sit 12th in the Premier League table yet this was their seventh win when keeping a clean sheet and scoring at least twice – Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have managed only five such results each and Manchester United just three. Eddie Howe‘s team have recorded two 4-0 wins (at home to Chelsea and away to Watford), one by 3-0 and four by 2-0. The Betfair Exchange have Bournemouth at [10.5] to win 2-0 against Newcastle, while for any win to nil Bournemouth are 12-5 with the Betfair Sportsbook.

Swansea City may fear the worst when Manchester City come to town for an FA Cup quarter-final this weekend. In matches pitting one of the Manchester teams (City or United) against Welsh opponents (Swansea, Cardiff City or Newport County) over the past two seasons, the Manchester sides have won all nine games and scored 31 goals to two. City have met Swansea twice in that period, winning 5-0 at home and 4-0 away. City are [1.8] with the Betfair Exchange to win to nil on Saturday.