Football Bet of the Day: Entertaining tie likely at Ewood Park

The FA Cup fourth round action was spread over five days but the final tie of the round could well be worth waiting for as Blackburn Rovers host Wrexham at Ewood Park on Monday (KO, 19:30).

Rovers have dropped into the lower reaches of the Championship table after going seven league games without a win, while the Dragons are enjoying their first season back in the Football League and challenging for instant promotion from League Two.

The scene is set for a potential upset if Blackburn don't stamp their authority on the game and, while it would not be on the scale of National League South side Maidstone United's stunning defeat of Ipswich Town on Saturday, a Wrexham win would certainly attract plenty of headlines.

Monday's football fixture list offers a wide range of options with games in the FA Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, Asian Cup and across Europe in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Turkey.

The AFCON contest between Senegal and tournament hosts Ivory Coast is a great match-up for a round-of-16 tie but the best bet of the day may come in the FA Cup contest at Ewood Park.

After non-league Maidstone's heroics in winning away to a Championship team, League Two Wrexham are aiming to do the same at Blackburn, although at 10/3 to cause an upset they are being taken far more seriously than the Stones were.

The Dragons will be the choice of many neutral fans due to their Hollywood ownership team and recent success, but the smart choice is to expect the Championship quality of the Blackburn squad to carry them to victory.

An entertaining contest can be expected, though, as Blackburn have not kept a clean sheet in their last 12 games and they continue to be bothered by defensive injuries, so improving the odds by taking Rovers to win a game in which both teams score at 9/5 appeals.

Blackburn's last game was a 1-1 draw against Huddersfield Town but their previous four games had produced 21 goals - 10 for and 11 against - which suggests that while Rovers are suspect at the back, their attacking prowess can often make up for it.

That is certainly the case when it comes to Blackburn striker Sammie Szmodics, who is the top scorer in the Championship with 16 goals despite playing for a bottom-half team.

Szmodics scored a hat-trick when Rovers beat League One Cambridge United 5-2 at Ewood Park in the third round and it was a good sign for this test that the home side were not disconcerted by facing lower-league opponents, and they showed fight to pull clear after twice falling behind in the first half.

The goals flowed when Wrexham played against Championship teams in last season's FA Cup, beating Coventry 4-3 in the third round before a 3-3 draw and 3-1 replay defeat by Sheffield United and they are unlikely to go down without a fight again.

The League Two team disappointingly lost 1-0 to Newport on their last outing, but they were reduced to 10 men after just 18 minutes of that game and they should have more options for this game with players coming back from injury.

There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 13 of Blackburn's last 15 games and both teams have scored in Rovers' last five matches in all competitions and in nine of their last 12 outings.

Blackburn are 9/5 to win in a game which sees Wrexham also scoring at Ewood Park on Monday night and that looks a price worth taking.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.