Millwall vs Dagenham & Redbridge prediction: Daggers may prove handy in cup battle

Millwall to win after extra time - 8/1 Betway

The last of the 32 FA Cup third-round matches take place on Monday when Championship side Millwall face non-league Dagenham & Redbridge, desperate to avoid a potential cup shock (7.30pm, ITV4).

New Lions boss Alex Neil is still looking for his first win since taking charge at the end of December and will see this game as the perfect opportunity. So far, his side have lost 1-0 at home to Oxford and drawn 2-2 against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough last time out, to leave them 14th in the Championship table.

The Daggers on the other hand sit 15th in the National League and 72 places below their hosts in the football pyramid but we all know that counts for nothing in a one-off match.

They have already beaten League Two sides Crewe and AFC Wimbledon to reach the third round of the FA Cup and become one of only three non-league sides in the draw.

It’s been a mixed season so far, with their last eight results being a pretty fair reflection of their season – four wins and four defeats. They are only eight points off the play-off places though with a game in hand over several sides around them.

That poor form bought an end to the tenure of boss, and club legend, Ben Strevens who was sacked on Boxing Day after almost two years in charge. Assistant manager Lewis Young is in temporary charge and would love to add a cup shock to his CV.

On paper, this should be a relatively easy fixture for the Championship side to navigate but this is the FA Cup and being live on TV under the floodlights will give this one an added edge.

But Neil will have drilled into his team the importance of being professional and what a place in the fourth round would mean to them, as well as the prize money the chance for a lucrative tie with a Premier League side would be welcomed by the club.

Football betting sites show the home side as the clear favourites at 8/25, while you can get 9/1 on a Dagenham win and 19/4 on the game being all square at the end of 90 minutes.

The two sides have met just twice before, at this stage of the competition back in 2012. They played out a goalless draw at Victoria Road before Millwall ran out 5-0 winners in the replay, thanks to a hat-trick from Darius Henderson and a brace from a certain Harry Kane.

The Lions don’t quite have that quality of striker in their squad now with Romain Esse, who is rumoured to be wanted by Crystal Palace, their current leading scorer with just five.

They are actually the league’s joint lowest scorers with just 24 goals from their 25 games, while they have conceded 23. The Daggers have scored 39 in their 24 league games and conceded 33 so both teams to score might be a bet worth looking at on betting apps given the standard of opposition won’t be what the Millwall forwards have been used to.

Betting sites are offering 19/20 on both teams to score and 4/7 on more than 2.5 goals being scored. With the tie decided on the night we’re going for Millwall to just about have enough to make it through to the fourth round for the first time since 2021 at a tasty price.

Millwall vs Dagenham prediction 1: Millwall to win after extra time - 8/1 Betway

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