FA Cup second-round predictions, betting tips and odds: Saddlers set sights on third round

When to watch

Slough vs Macclesfield
TNT Sports 1 & TNT Sports 2, 12.30pm Sunday

Boreham Wood vs Newport County
BBC Two & TNT Sports 1, 2.30pm Sunday

Gateshead vs Walsall
TNT Sports 1 & TNT Sports 2, 3.30pm Sunday

Blackpool vs Carlisle
TNT Sports 1 & TNT Sports 2, 5.30pm Sunday

Best bets

Walsall & over 2.5 goals
2pts Evs Coral, Ladbrokes

Over 2.5 goals in Boreham Wood vs Newport County
2pts 4-5 Hills

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FA Cup second-round predictions

FA Cup purists are always on the hunt for a giant-killing but Gateshead look unlikely to provide one when they host Walsall in one of four televised second-round ties on Sunday.

The Heed have had their far share of off-field issues in recent years and things are going south for the club on the pitch at the moment, too.

After a solid enough start to the season, Alun Armstrong’s side have shipped 16 goals in losing their last five National League matches and they have particularly struggled at home.

Gateshead have taken just five points from ten league games on their own patch and they are in serious danger of dropping out of the top tier of the non-league structure unless they arrest their alarming slide soon.

Armstrong has said that an FA Cup run will be vital to boosting the club's bank balance, but a repeat of their shock first-round win over AFC Wimbledon seems unlikely against Walsall.

The Saddlers are leading the way in League Two and beat fellow title hopefuls Bromley 3-1 last weekend to consolidate their position at the top of the table.

The Midlanders have won five of their last six games and could put a vulnerable Gateshead defence to the sword in the North East.

Goals could also be in plentiful supply when National League Boreham Wood welcome EFL basement boys Newport to Meadow Park.

The Wood have been in fine form recently, winning seven of their last eight matches, while Newport are rooted to the foot of League Two after losing 12 of their 18 fourth-tier matches.

Christian Fuchs’ Exiles have shipped five goals in their last two matches and their defensive frailty could lead to an open game.

Eleven of Boreham Wood’s last 13 matches have featured at least three goals and a bet on over 2.5 looks more than fair at a shade of odds-on.

Elsewhere, Macclesfield can reach the third round for the first time since reforming five years ago if they beat beat National League South side Slough, while League One strugglers Blackpool take on Mark Hughes’s Carlisle.

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