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"My head is telling me that New England are a veteran group who understand what it takes to win," said Woodson.

"But I really believe the Giants are going to squeak this one out. I think they're going to win this game."

Former cornerback Woodson played in three Super Bowls himself and was on the Baltimore Ravens team that beat the Giants in 2001.

A BBC TV analyst for this year's game in Arizona, Woodson based his prediction on New York's performance on 29 December, when they lost 38-35 to the Patriots.

New England staged a comeback to overcome a 12-point deficit late in the game.

"The Giants had the game won, there were a couple of miscues and New England took advantage of that," Woodson told BBC Sport.

"I don't think they'll let those miscues happen again. I think their defence is good enough and they can score points against the Patriots."

New England scored a record 589 points during the regular season, with quarterback Tom Brady throwing a record 50 touchdown passes and Randy Moss catching a record 23.

But the Patriots defence struggled to contain opposing running games at times during the season, and face one of the league's best running backs in the Giants' Brandon Jacobs.

"We're all focused on New England's offence but we forget the defence. Late in the year people ran the ball against them and scored points against them," Woodson added.

"Everybody's going to say that the Giants can't win and that the only way New England are going to lose is if they mess up.

"But I believe the Giants have all the confidence in the world that they can beat the New England Patriots."

(BBC)

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