Right Said Fred: Talking Betting With BetFred Boss Fred Done

I’m still smiling over that brilliant FA Cup win over Liverpool at the weekend!

It’s been a fantastic couple of months for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his United team, and that win was a great indicator of where they’re at as we head into the second half of the season.

I wrote in last week’s column that the Cup tie would be A LOT more entertaining than the goalless draw in the league a week before, and it’s fair to say that is exactly what we got.

It was a thrilling game from start to finish, with moments of quality from both sides – and it was a moment of brilliance from that man Bruno Fernandes to settle it and take United into the fifth round.

 What else can I say about our Portuguese magnifico that hasn’t already been side?

He’s been revolutionary for this team, both on and off the pitch. He scores or assists a goal pretty much every week and is helping to install a winning mentality – something we’ve been missing for a long time.

I loved that quote after the game from Solskjaer, when he said Bruno stayed behind after training for almost an hour to practice his free-kicks after being told he wouldn’t be starting at the weekend.

That’s the kind of mentality we need at the club, and the kind of player who will get us winning trophies again.

I also love how, despite often going behind early on in games like on Sunday, this team refuses to accept defeat and always look threatening in front of goal – dare I say it reminds me a bit of the Fergie years?

Beating Liverpool is always sweet, but to do it with world class free-kick in the latter stages of a game that was hanging in the balance was special – I only wish there were fans in the stadium as Old Trafford would have erupted!

United, who play West Ham at Old Trafford in the next round, are now 5/1 second favourites at Betfred to win the FA Cup behind rivals Manchester City, who travel to Swansea, at 7/4.

As for the Premier League, it’s all eyes on the Arsenal game on Saturday.

I’m writing this before Wednesday’s game against Sheffield United, which hopefully we have won and regained our position at the top of the table, but either way that game against the Gunners on the weekend is huge.

It’s no secret that they have struggled this season, but they’re currently in a bit of good form and it’s worth remembering that they are the last team to beat us in the league, back on the first day of November.

We’ve improved immensely since then, however, and it feels to me like the kind of game we need to be winning if we want to actually go on and win the Premier League this season.

Betfred have United 7/5 favourites to win the tie, with Arsenal 2/1 – while the draw is 5/2.