Chelsea

Chelsea v Manchester United betting is being well covered by highly rated online bookmaker Paddy Power. The matches between the Blues and the Red Devils are usually fiercely contested, and not without their controversy, and so Paddy Power have launched a Money Back Special promotion for the match. If there is a penalty scored in the match at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Paddy Power will refund all losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast singles placed on the match. That is great coverage from the betting insurance to take, and means that you can go into the First Goalscorer market for example where Wayne Rooney is 6/1 favourite, or the Correct Score Market where a 1-0 home win is priced at 7/1, and take them with the Money Back Special insurance. Remember, the promotion only kicks in if a penalty is scored (which United did twice in their last match!). Online bookmaker Paddy Power offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them. The bookie will match the value of your first deposit on a new account, up to the maximum value of £50, with a free bet for you to enjoy!

Chelsea v Manchester United betting will no doubt throw up its thrills and spills from Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Chelsea’s captain John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy, but he remains club captain, but he won’t be putting in an appearance on Sunday in the mach, because of a knee injury. That means Gary Cahill will probably make his debut in this tough match, and the Chelsea back line has been disrupted even further with Ashley Cole out suspended. This is not really a title deciding match here, with Chelsea sitting a massive twelve points back of joint leaders Manchester United, so with a win, there will still be a huge nine point deficit which is not likely to be overcome. Chelsea’s form has been patchy at best this season, and that trend still continued, with five drawn league matches out of their last eight. Chelsea rescued an injury time point away at Swansea during midweek, thanks to the Swans scoring an own goal. That was Chelsea’s second draw in a row, following a 0-0 draw at Norwich prior to that. So the old firepower is not there as an attacking force from Chelsea, who are missing Didier Drogba (who is at the Africa Cup of Nations) and Drogba was the last Chelsea forward to score, back on December 31st, from the penalty spot. The goals have dried up from Daniel Sturridge and Fernando Torres is still struggling to find the back of the net as well, so Chelsea look short of being a complete, title contending team. With rumours that Jose Mourinho could be leaving Real Madrid, Blues boss Andre Villas Boas may rightly be feeling the pressure at the club. Despite all their troubles, they are up in fourth place and need to keep picking up points to ensure that they get another crack at the Champions League next season. Chelsea’s home form hasn’t been terrible this season, winning seven, drawing one and losing three of their eleven fixtures at the Bridge. But they are just lacking the incisive ruthlessness in front of goal to go on and win games convincingly. Chelsea have only scored more than one goal in just one of their last eight Premier League matches. At home, Chelsea have scored a total of 24 goals, but have conceded sixteen, which is pretty high for them. Chelsea were always about a tight defence, but they do concede quite a bit. 81% of Chelsea’s home matches have ended over 2.5 goals, so there should be goals in Sunday’s big Chelsea v Manchester United betting fixture. Frank Lampard will probably get recalled to the starting eleven, as he is joint top scorer for the club with nine goals alongside Daniel Sturridge. They may be out of the title race, but can the Blues still have a big say in where the title goes this season? A win over Man Utd would also do their confidence a world of good, after being rolled over by the Red Devils three times last season, and once again already this season.

Don’t forget the Paddy Power Money Back Special for Chelsea v Man Utd betting. Lost stake refunds will be paid out on First/Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast bets placed on the match, if there is a penalty scored in the game!

United picked up a comfortable 3-1 home win over Chelsea back in September, with all goals coming in the first half. Chelsea’s Fernando Torres was on the score sheet that day, but the match will be remembered better for the Spaniards glaring open goal miss, which would have given Chelsea some kind of life line. Manchester United had a profitable week in the Premier League, picking up a 2-0 home win over Stoke at Old Trafford, courtesy of two converted penalty kicks, one from Javier Hernandez and one from Dimitar Berbatov. That has left United with a run of three straight wins in the Premier League now, and they have clawed back the lead that Manchester City had over them in the title race. United go into the weekend’s matches level on points at the top of the table with City, so this is another big fixture in which United need to perform. Stamford Bridge hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for United in recent times, as they haven’t won there in their last nine Premier League matches. It seems to be all big games for United at the moment, beating Man City in the FA Cup, squeezing past Arsenal in the Premier League and then losing to Liverpool in the FA Cup. What keeps United going is their tenacity in tough situations though, and they are the Premier League’s best away team this season. They have suffered just one defeat on the road this year, a trip to Newcastle at the start of the season, and their mean defence has given up just seven goals on the road. There have been question marks over United’s defence, which, granted has looked pretty shaky and inconsistent at times, but more often than not they still manage to get the job done. Can United add to their eight wins on the road this season? They should take a pretty fit side to Stamford Bridge with them, with Nani, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young all having been passed fit. David de Gea though gets the start in goal, as the young Spaniard gets more and more criticism over his performances, as Anders Lindegaard is on the sidelines through injury.

Chelsea v Manchester United Betting Odds
Chelsea to win: 7/4 at Bet Victor
Draw: 23/10 at Totesport
Man Utd to win: 15/8 at SkyBet

It is back to FA Cup betting action this weekend as the fourth round swings into action, and QPR v Chelsea betting at Loftus Road should be a cracker. We know the history between these two, because when they met in the league, it was a really ill tempered affair which QPR somehow came away with a 1-0 battling win against their rich London neighbours. There was the whole spat between Chelsea’s John Terry and QPR’s Anton Ferdinand as well which is still spilling on to this FA Cup match. QPR have been encouraging Anton Ferdinand to shake John Terry’s hand in an attempt to try and keep things under the boil at Loftus Road, and warnings have been issued to both clubs that punishments will be handed out for any discriminatory or inflammatory language. There is not going to be any love lost between the two sides in QPR v Chelsea FA Cup betting, and it just adds that extra spice for the noon kick off on Saturday. Chelsea boss Andre Villas Boas has no intention of leaving John Terry out of the squad for the match and so we can expect another headed affair. QPR got the better of the league match through a slightly dodgy penalty decision in the 10th minute, and while Chelsea controlled most of the game, even when they went down to nine men with Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba getting shown red cards, they couldn’t break through. So what fireworks are to come in QPR v Chelsea FA Cup betting?

Online bookmaker Bet365 offer great 0-0 insurance on their football matches listed in their sports book. If a pre match Correct Score, Half Time/Full Time or Scorecast bet on ANY match loses because the game ends in a 0-0 draw, then you will get a lost stake refund from the bookie. This is great value if you enjoy dipping into those markets, and that extra bit of coverage is always worth taking in your betting. Online bookmaker Bet365 offer a free £200 bet for new customers registering a new account with them. In this generous welcome bonus, the bookie will match the value of your first deposit on a new account with a 100% bonus, up to the maximum value of £200. That equates to a whole lot of free betting cash to enjoy on your new account, in this fantastic bonus promotion from the highly rated bookie.

Chelsea will still be favourites to win the match, even though they could only muster up a 0-0 draw away from home against Norwich in the league last weekend. They are lacking a punch up front, with Didier Drogba on international duty and Fernando Torres still mis-firing in front of goal. So new QPR boss Mark Hughes, who saw his side pick up a vital 3-1 win over Wigan in the league last weekend, will sense an opportunity to gun down one of the FA Cup favourites. QPR’s form has been pretty terrible, needing a replay against Macclesfield to reach this stage and they have lost six of their last eight Premier League matches. That poor run of form got Neil Warnock the boot and while they will have one eye on the relegation battle just below them, a decent run in the cup would help their confidence. But it is a thin line for Hughes to tread, dedicating too much time to the FA Cup. QPR do struggle for goals, and if they are going to get past Chelsea, you would imagine that it would be by just one goal and nothing more. Chelsea are still patchy in their form, sometimes brilliant, sometimes scrapping for results and sometimes lethargic and lacking penetration. With the London side being way back in the Premier League title race, Andre Villas Boas will probably be gunning hard for FA Cup success, knowing that he is under pressure to bring trophies to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are likely to pack the extra punch, they have that extra quality, but they can expect a right old scrap from Mark Hughes’ men, who always sets his teams up to be hard to beat.

QPR v Chelsea FA Cup Betting Odds
Chelsea: 8/13 at Bet365
Draw: 3/1 at Bet365
QPR: 4/1 at Totesport

There is a good promotion at online bookmaker Boylesports for your Norwich v Chelsea betting on Saturday. If you enjoy a punt on the First Goalscorer market then this will be for you. When you back a selection in Norwich v Chelsea First Goalscorer betting, if your selection fails to score first, but does net the second goal of the game, then you will get your lost stake refunded with this offer. In the First Goalscorer Market you have Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge as 9/2 favourite, with Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard around 5/1 to open the scoring. Norwich’s Grant Holt is back at 15/2, and if you back any of them and they scored second in the game instead of first, then you will get your lost stake refunded. Online bookmaker Boylesports offer a free £20 bet as a registration welcome bonus for new customers. Register an account, bet £20 as your first stake and they will give you a free bet to the value of that £20! So great free betting cash to get you started!

 Chelsea have the chance to make up some ground in the title race with Sunday’s big fixtures between the others contenders affording them the chance to play a little catch up. Andre Villas Boas takes his Blues to Carrow Road to face Norwich in a match they really can not afford to lose points in. Chelsea are eleven points off the top of the table but go into the match on Saturday on the back of two wins. Chelsea got the better of an improving Sunderland side at Stamford Bridge in their previous league match, with a rebound goal from Frank Lampard taking all three points for the home team. The Blues now have to manage without talismanic striker Didier Drogba for a while, as he is off with the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations and so the impetus will be on Fernando Torres to step and get amongst the goals. However, Chelsea’s away form has not been too spectacular this season, with just five wins from their 10 league matches away from the Bridge. They have haven’t lost on their last five road trips, the most recent one a late 2-1 win at Wolves but they haven’t been overwhelmingly impressive. A draw at Wigan and then that lucky escape at Wolves to sneak three points, has not seen Chelsea at their fluent best. While they have nailed those back to back wins heading to Carrow Road, those have been the only wins in the last six Premier League matches, with three draws and a defeat on New Years Eve at home against Aston Villa. So Chelsea are still vulnerable, but they do show glimpses of showing some fight. With Manchester playing Spurs and Man Utd heading to Arsenal, this is a big weekend for Chelsea to sneak under the radar and make up some ground. New signing Gary Cahill is available to face Norwich, and when these two sides met at Stamford Bridge back in August of last year, Chelsea ran out 3-1 winners.

Paul Lambert’s Norwich City can be pretty proud of where they are at the moment, sitting in ninth place in the Premier League. The Canaries have only lost one of their last six matches, and that was against the high flying Tottenham, so there is a lot to applaud about the club at the moment. They should enjoy being back at Carrow Road after securing two away wins to start the new year with and that should give them confidence against a Chelsea side which misfires at times. Norwich’s last home fixture was a 1-1 draw with Fulham, and the Canaries have racked up four home wins, three draws and three defeats, two of those being against top six sides Arsenal and Spurs. So can Norwich spring another surprise and dent Chelsea’s outside title hopes of winning the Premier League this season? One problem for Norwich is that they have yet to keep a clean sheet all season in the league, and with them not being a too high scoring side, they are going to have to work hard for points against Chelsea. But that is just what they have proven that they can do. Norwich v Chelsea betting has the potential for a surprise, but the realistic hopes for the home fans is that they would be enormously happy with coming away from the match with a point. As for Chelsea, they need to show more clinical finishing up front, something which has been lacking all season long.

Norwich v Chelsea Betting Odds
Norwich to win: 5/1 at Bet365
Draw: 16/5 at VC Bet
Chelsea to win: 8/13 at Totesport

Chelsea v Portsmouth FA Cup Betting should give Blues boss Andre Villas Boas a bit of a respite from the high pressures of his first season in charge at the Bridge. It hasn’t been all plain sailing for Chelsea, and now they get to enjoy the comforts of home turf against a struggling Championship side. This should be a comfortable afternoon for Chelsea, you would think, but they have been guilty of letting matches slip this season, and nearly did so again after the turn of the new year, needing a late winner from Frank Lampard to pick up three points at Wolves after the Blues had conceded an 84th minute equalizer. That was Chelsea’s only win in their last five league matches, not the rampant kind of form you would expect from a team who are supposed to be challenging for top spot in the Premier League. Still, they are hanging in there, and they are still firing on domestic and European fronts. There have been suggestions of dressing room unrest which have been played down, and now Bolton’s Gary Cahill looks to be the club’s prime target for a quick purchase to tighten things up at the back. Chelsea have had problems at centre half this season, and they have struggled to keep clean sheets. But surely Andre Villas Boas will take a chance here to rest a couple of players and give more game time to certain people like Fernando Torres who needs to find some confidence. Chelsea will be without Ivory Coast duo Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou who are not permitted to play because of international duties with the forthcoming African Cup of Nations. This really shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for Chelsea, not at home, as they generally don’t give too much away there (although they have lost ten points at the Bridge this season).

Pompey will look back and see that Chelsea have shown patches of vulnerability at home, as the Blues crashed out of the Carling Cup there against Liverpool. However, what should put the ball even more firmly in the court of the London side in Chelsea v Portsmouth FA Cup betting, is the fact that Portsmouth have been struggling on the road badly this season. They have managed just one league win out of twelve attempts now and the bookies are really not giving Pompey too much of a chance at Stamford Bridge. Pompey boss Michael Appleton has already said that he hopes to avoid getting an FA Cup spanking, so that doesn’t exactly enthuse Portsmouth fans taking the trip up to London. If there was a time for Portsmouth though to pull out a big upset, it would be now. The club are looking for new owners, and it sounds unlikely that the club are going to have any money to spend in the January transfer window to help their position. A win at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup though would do wonders for the coffers and confidence on the south coast.

Chelsea v Portsmouth FA Cup Betting Odds
Chelsea to win: 1/6 at Bet365
Draw: 6/1 at SkyBet
Portsmouth to win: 16/1 at Victor Chandler

Online bookmaker Bet365 offer a free £200 bet for new customers who sign up and register an account with them. When you make your first deposit with the highly rated online bookmaker, Bet365 will match you with a 100% deposit bonus, up to the maximum value of £200. So a tremendous amount of free betting cash on offer! Bet365 also run their 0-0 Bore Draw money back special on all football matches on their website. If a game ends in a 0-0 draw, then the bookie will refund any losing Correct Score, Half Time/ Full Time or Scorecast bet which has been placed on that game. Great football betting coverage and a wonderful welcome bonus for new customers at the highly recommended Bet365.

Chelsea v Fulham Betting Tip & Odds: We surely have to be looking at a home win here on Boxing Day, don’t we? The Blues have a great home record against Fulham (see below) and therefore all the stats add up to a Chelsea win. Clearly the bookies think that is going to happen too, so we are just going to stick with the in form Daniel Sturridge for this one. The young speedster is priced at 4/1 favourite to open the scoring with Victor Chandler and therefore is worth looking at in conjunction with their promo (see below).

Chelsea to win: 1/3 at Skybet
Draw: 4/1 at Bet365
Fulham to win: 11/1 at Stan James

EPL Match Preview: The busy Christmas period in the Premier League continues to get warmed up with a nice London derby to look forward to on Boxing Day. Chelsea will have taken some confidence away from their trip to White Hart Lane in the week, picking up a point against Tottenham, while Fulham won’t have any confidence at all after being torn apart by Manchester United in a 5-0 embarrassment at Craven Cottage. Chelsea really need to string together a few victories to get themselves back into the title race fully at this point. With four dropped points in their last two games, they can’t afford many more slip ups really and it is going to be a tall enough order to win the title at this rate. As for Fulham, the calls for Martin Jol to go have already started and interestingly they will now be looking over their shoulder and see that they are just four points away from the drop zone and not in the greatest form. They need to find a way to create more chances and turn those into goals. A trip to Stamford Bridge at this point is not likely to ease any Christmas blues that the Craven Cottagers may be having.

Chelsea Form: Two back to back draws now for Chelsea in the Premier League, and trailing league leaders Manchester City by 11 points going into the Boxing Day fixtures, the title looks a distant dream for Andre Villas Boas. Still, after dropping points against Wigan in the dying throes on the weekend, Chelsea responded with a well earned point at White Hart Lane against the high flying Tottenham. Chelsea had to work hard in the early stages but had their chances to win the match once Daniel Sturridge had equalised for them. Under pressure John Terry saved the day at the death for Chelsea, as he blocked a shot on the line from Emmanuel Adebayor, which would have sealed all three points for Spurs. So there is still a building process going on at the Bridge, and more and more Villas Boas is doing things his way. Frank Lampard can’t get into the starting line up, and with injuries to Mikel and Branislav Ivanovic, the Blues are going to need to have a bit of a reshuffle. At least they can take some comfort from being back at Stamford Bridge after two away matches, as the last time they were there they beat Manchester City. While they have had their ups and downs, Chelsea look as if they are going to get better and better with time, especially if the right personnel can be drafted in up front and strengthened at the back. After back to back home slip ups in the Premier League against Arsenal and then Liverpool, the Blues have responded with two wins at the Bridge, scoring five and conceding two. Chelsea’s home form this season in the league reads 6 wins, 2 defeats and no draws, so they are clicking along at a 75% success rate. They have scored in all eight home matches so far this season, so you would expect them to be on the score sheet on Boxing Day. While it can be argued that they aren’t scoring enough, the Blues have netted 21 times at home at an average of 2.62 goals per game, but their rate of conceding has been high at 1.5 per home game. There has only been one home clean sheet for Chelsea this season. Further evidence they need strengthening at the back. The Blues are still at their best in front of goal in the 15 minutes before half time and the last fifteen minutes of matches. Chelsea have only scores first in 62% of their matches this season, not a particularly high rate. Daniel Sturridge continues his fine form as the other Chelsea strikers struggle for goals, his goal against Tottenham was the ninth of the campaign for him. Chelsea’s most frequent score lines at home this season have been 3-1 and 2-1 victories. 75% of Chelsea’s matches this season have ended over 2.5 goals.

Fulham Form: Well the Craven Cottagers won’t be fancying this trip too much, not after the horror show they produced against Manchester United on Wednesday night. The first 45 minutes of their home game against the Red Devils was probably the worst 45 minutes of football by any Premier League team this season. They were that bad. The Fulham fans have been expecting some open and flowing football since Martin Jol took the reins, but they seem to having trouble finding their feet. After going down 5-0 against United, Fulham somehow need to pick themselves up for a trip to their London neighbors and rivals Chelsea. You would imagine on the form of their showing on Wednesday night, that they can only get better. They didn’t attack with any cohesion and they were wide open at the back, and that usually spells danger for teams heading to Stamford Bridge. Fulham are just hard to predict at the moment, beating Liverpool and Bolton at home before completely rolling over against the Red Devils. Was expecting so much more from them really, but they didn’t put up a fight and got the stuffing knocked out of them. Fulham’s away form in the Premier League this season is not going to give their fans much hope at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day either, because Fulham have managed just one win away from home this season, drawing three and losing four. That is just a 12% win percentage away from home this season, and they are now without a win away from Craven Cottage in three matches now. They have also conceded in their last two away games. More bad reading really for Fulham, is that they have only scored four goals away from home this season. Just four, averaging half a goal per game. That means, just 22% of all their goals have come away from home. Not great reading. They have conceded nine, and all that totals up to 87% of their away games ending under 2.5 goals. So you generally don’t expect a lot of fireworks when watching Fulham, to be truthful. The Craven Cottage crew have only scored first in 29% of all their matches this season, a pretty laboring stat, and 61% of their goals have come in the second half. American Clint Dempsey is the club’s top scorer with 5 goals and looks the best route to goal for them, while Bobby Zamora, who wants away from the club is on three goals, the same tally as Andrew Johnson.

Head to Head: Who leads the London derby stats in this head to head? Well, Chelsea simply dominate it. Out of 37 matches in total played between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge, Fulham have won just twice in this fixture, while Chelsea have 20 victories alongside 15 draws. So huge dominance in this fixture for the Blues, who will be expected to pick up three points on Boxing Day. Chelsea have scored more than twice the amount of goals which Fulham have managed in this fixture. They have met at Stamford Bridge already this season, playing out a 0-0 draw in the Carling Cup, which Chelsea then won on penalties. Last season’s corresponding fixture ended in a 1-0 win for the home side, and the Blues have won four of the last five league meetings against Fulham. The last time Fulham beat Chelsea was back in the 2005/06 season, earning a 1-0 win at home.

Online Bookmaker Promotion: Popular bookie Victor Chandler are offering punters a chance to Double Up on their First Goalscorer odds in this match. Back a winning First Goalscorer bet in the match, and if that same player goes on to score a second in the game, then the bookie will pay you out a double your original First Goalscorer odds. That makes it worthwhile having a crack on your First Goalscorer betting markets there with them. Victor Chandler also offer a free £25 bet for new customers registering an account with them. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account with a free bet, up to the maximum amount of £25.

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea Betting Tip & Odds: It is the home side Spurs who are attracting most of the betting attention in this one, and rightly so. They have lost just once at home, and are on a six game winning streak at White Hart Lane. Can’t argue with that, so these two should be evenly matched and can’t see more than a one goal winning margin from either. There is actually decent value in backing either for an outright win at the prices below. However, going to push the boat out and go for great value in Spurs -0.75 Asian Handicap for 2/1 at Bet365. That pays a half win for Spurs winning by one goal, full win for them winning by two.

Tottenham Hotspur to win: 13/8 at Stan James
Draw: 5/2 at VC Bet
Chelsea to win: 7/4 at Bet365

EPL Match Preview: A great heated London derby is on the cards for Thursday evening, with the unusual position of Chelsea trailing Tottenham in the league standings. Spurs sit in third place at the moment, two points clear of Chelsea, but Harry Redknapp’s men still have a game in hand over everyone else in the title race. So this is a massive game for Spurs if they really want to press home their title winning credentials. They are in good enough form to do, and with Chelsea being a bit hit and miss in their form, is this the perfect opportunity for Tottenham to get a big one up over the London rivals? There really hasn’t been too much to split these two teams this season, other than Spurs have been far more consistent. The difference could all come down to the goal scoring support in depth from the Spurs midfield, which is better than Chelsea’s. But we expect a fiery clash in the Capital with huge implementations. Chelsea lose and they will be well back in the title race, while a win for them would keep them in the hunt. Who will rule London on Thursday evening?

Tottenham Hotspur Form: You really have to admire what Harry Redknapp has done at White Hart Lane. The way Spurs play, that new found edge of mettle to grind things out when necessary is all down to him. After a couple of brutal lessons at the start of the season from both Manchester clubs, Spurs went on an eleven match unbeaten run in the Premier League, winning ten of those, before falling away at Stoke a couple of weekends ago. They bounced back on Sunday though with a narrow 1-0 win over Sunderland, and the signs are there that Spurs are actually a genuine title contender. Probably more so than Chelsea, and they are arguably the best side in London at the moment. Their home form has been pretty spot on, winning six on the bounce now, since getting hammered by Manchester City in their first home game of the season. It has all been upwards since then and there is a great team spirit surrounding Tottenham. Spurs have scored in each of their home matches so far this season, which points to them being favourites in this match, and to back that up, they have kept three home clean sheets in a row now. Granted Spurs are not quite as prolific in front of goal as some of the other title rivals, but they are getting there. The beauty about Spurs really is that they have goals from pretty much everywhere on the pitch, with superb contribution from the midfield to relieve the pressures of the forwards. Things become very easy when that is in place. Spurs have netted sixteen times at home this season at an average of 2.28 goals per match, and they are conceding on average one goal per game at White Hart Lane. They do have an impressive 57% clean sheet record at home this season and 71% of their home games have ended over 2.5 goals. Tottenham’s strong period of the match, seems to be in the 61-75 minute bracket, which is when they have been most prolific over the course of the season so far. They are also quite strong starters as well in the first fifteen minutes, and have opened the scoring in 73% of their matches. Emmanuel Adebayor has contributed superbly with eight goals this season, backed up by Jermain Defoe, Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale. It is that forward support which Chelsea have been lacking, and what could be the difference in this game.

Chelsea Form: Time for Chelsea to redeem themselves again. After a bit of a lackluster performance on Saturday away at Wigan, in which a late equalizer from the home side saw Chelsea throw away points in the title race, the Blues now face a tough test to get back on track. Chelsea were really below par against Wigan, not looking a powerful force, and again the striker problems were prevalent, with Didier Drogba anonymous and Fernando Torres unable to get on to the pitch. Those dropped points saw Chelsea concede third place in the Premier League to Thursday’s opponents Tottenham, and so now Chelsea need to rattle off a good win to get themselves back in front of their London rivals. Chelsea are unbeaten in their last three away matches, picking up two wins and then that draw on the weekend. In total, they have played out four wins, two draws and two defeats away from Stamford Bridge this season, not a great record, but could be worse. The Blues are averaging  1.63 goals per match away from home and conceding about half of that numbers. A large part of Chelsea’s problems this season has been keeping clean sheets, although that late goal from Wigan, did stop them going three away matches without conceding. Chelsea are a little hit and miss at the moment, they either turn up and play very well like they did at Newcastle recently, or simply fail to get going as they did against Wigan. So consistency is a bit of problem, but they are on a four game unbeaten stretch in the Premier League at the moment, and are probably due a good game after the Wigan one, so expect something of a bounce back. Chelsea have found the back of the net thirteen times on the road, but a quarter of their away matches have failed to yield a goal for them. 50% of Chelsea’s away matches this season have ended Over 2.5 goals, and their goal scoring timing is still split evenly between the first and second halves, and the Blues have opened the scoring in 62% of their matches. Young Daniel Sturridge, who scored again on Saturday, is top scorer for Chelsea with 8 goals. Now if only he could get some back up from either Drogba or Torres (who have just four goals between them), Chelsea would be a much tougher force to be reckoned with. That surely has to be a big target for Andre Villas Boas in January. What they have is not working up front.

 Head to Head: A hugely popular London derby and one which reads pretty evenly in the stats. Spurs have won 26 of these fixtures, while Chelsea have rattled off an impressive 25 wins, and there have been 19 draws between the two of them at White Hart Lane. Last season’s corresponding fixture ended in a 1-1 draw, and Chelsea have not managed a win at their neighbours in four attempts now. After Chelsea dominating their rivals for so long, the tide really has turned when these two come together.

Online Bookmaker Promotion: Online bookmaker Paddy Power have a Money Back Special running for your Spurs v Chelsea betting on Thursday night. If there is a Penalty scored in the match, then the bookie will refund any losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score or Scorecast single bets placed on the match. Nice bit of coverage if you are looking at those markets for your match betting. The highly rated online bookmaker Paddy Power offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account with a free bet, up to the maximum value of £50.

Chelsea v Napoli Champions League Betting Preview. After a strong finish at Stamford Bridge in their must win Match Day six encounter with Valencia, Chelsea won their group and have been rewarded with a tie against Italian side Napoli. This is of course, Andre Villas Boas’s first season in charge of Chelsea in their quest to win the Champions League for owner Roman Abramovich, and they will be pretty pleased with this draw. The first leg is in Naples on February 21^st, with the return at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, March 14^th. Napoli of course, got the better of Manchester City for second place in Group A of the Champions League. The Italians grabbed a vital 2-1 win in Naples over City, giving them just enough to get through to the knockout stage. Chelsea v Valencia Champions League betting will see the London side favourites to go through, even though the test out in Italy, is going to be a tough one. While Chelsea fight to stay in the Premier League title race, Napoli are trying to hang on to the coat tails of the top four in Serie A. This will be the first time that Chelsea have faced Napoli in European competition, and Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri is ready for a tougher test for his side than the one faced against the more inexperienced Manchester City. All in all though, there were easier sides which Chelsea could have faced, but they will be expected to get through this one. How well they fare out in Napoli for the first leg will probably be the cornerstone of this tie, with Chelsea’s Champions League home form strong enough to see them through.

To Qualify: Chelsea 4/7 at Ladbrokes, Napoli 9/5 at Bwin

See our Full Champions League Last 16 Draw Betting Preview here

Online bookmaker Bet365 offer great coverage on football betting markets. Place a pre match bet on a Correct Score, Half Time/Full Time or Scorecast market for a match, and if that match ends in a 0-0 draw, then the bookie will refund your lost stakes. This provides some very nice coverage for all of your football betting with the highly rated bookie. Bet365 offer a free £200 bet for new customers registering an account with them. The bookie will match the value of your initial deposit on a new account, up to the maximum value of £200.

Will the trip up north for Andre Villas Boas in Wigan v Chelsea betting on Saturday, prove to be anything other than an easy three for the Blues boss? Chelsea have turned around their form in great style, becoming the first team to inflict defeat upon leaders Manchester City this season. That was after a spectacular show of force in their final Champions League match to book their place in the final sixteen. The Blues have tightened up their defence, and Andre Villas Boas has been sending out a settled side, and Chelsea will look for another three points to keep them in touch in the title race, and will be hoping to make up more ground over the weekend. Wigan have been struggling for most of the season, and are one of the favourites to take the dreaded relegation drop this season. There was a recent glimmer of hope, as Wigan fought back from a deficit against West Brom to claim all three points, but they still need to find a away to get out of the relegation zone and up into safety. A match against an in form and confident Chelsea is probably not the thing they want right now, especially with memories of the 6-0 defeat in this corresponding fixture last season hanging over them. But Chelsea have been vulnerable on the road this season, losing twice and that will give Wigan some hope and spirit that they can go out and cause an upset. Chelsea have adopted a more attacking style and they have shown vulnerabilities at the back. Can Wigan cause a huge upset? They’ve done it before against Chelsea, just a couple of seasons ago.

Online bookmaker Ladbrokes have a great Wigan v Chelsea Money Back Special promotion running for Saturday’s match. If Chelsea score firsts in the game, but fail to go on and win, then the bookie will refund all losing match bets placed on the game. This provides you a good bit of coverage in the case that Chelsea have a big slip up after taking the lead. Remember what happened to them in Genk in the Champions League? They blew that lead against inferior opposition.

Online bookmaker Ladbrokes offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them. New customers can receive a free bet up to that maximum value of £50, as the bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account, up to that figure. It gives you some great free betting cash to get started with on your new account!

Wigan v Chelsea Betting Odds at Ladbrokes
Wigan 8/1, Draw 7/2, Chelsea 4/11

See our full Wigan v Chelsea betting preview here

Wigan v Chelsea Betting Tip & Odds: Well, the way things are going, everyone will be expecting Chelsea to run out as comfortable winner here and that is probably what will happen. It means that we can dip into the Asian Handicap betting market for this one and take a Chelsea -1.5 for a decent price of Evens with Paddy Power.

Wigan to win: 8/1 at Totesport
Draw: 15/4 at Bet365
Chelsea to win: 2/5 at SkyBet

 EPL Match Preview: Big points are at stake in this game on Saturday in the Premier League. Chelsea are still seven points adrift of leaders Man City in the title race, despite beating them on Monday night. Things are pretty tight in the top five at the moment and Chelsea really need to rock out a win in order to keep pace with those around them. The Blues go into the match on the back of a three game winning streak and look to be over their blip in form. They have tightened up at the back, and are looking more dangerous in front of goal. Which could be bad news for Wigan, who need points to try and draw themselves away from the relegation zone. There have been signs of a mini revival, especially spurred on by their comeback against West Brom last weekend. But Chelsea have scored more than twice the amount of goals that Wigan have this season, so will the home side be able to hold out and snatch a crucial win, or will Chelsea keep up the pressure on those around them in the title race, all of which play the following day on Sunday?

Wigan Form: The early season struggles of Wigan Athletic just look as if they maybe abating somewhat. After pulling out an important win over West Brom in their last Premier League match, Wigan have now lost just one of their last four matches. A stark turn around in form the previous four to that which saw them lose four in a row. Their small upturn in form has seen them claw their way off the bottom of the table, but they still have a lot of work to do, because they are still in 18^th spot and just three points from the bottom. They have been helped by the slides of Blackburn and Bolton of course, but now face a big test on their road to recovery as they host Chelsea. They will be looking for a big home support to try and get something out of this match against the title contenders. However, Wigan have won just once at home this season in the league, an early triumph over QPR, and they have picked up just two more points in their home endeavors thanks to two draws. While Wigan fans will be optimistic that their side is turning things around, their home form still reads four defeats out of their last five, with a 3-3 draw against fellow strugglers Blackburn breaking that sequence. Goal scoring is clearly the problem for Wigan, as they have managed just eight in their seven home matches so far, and averaging 1.14 goals per game at home, isn’t going to get you very far in a season. Not when you are conceding an average of double that amount per game anyway. Wigan have only kept one clean sheet at home this season, so obviously not great at the back. Interestingly the period of the fifteen minutes before half time is when Wigan are apparently at their most dangerous, as they have scored seven goals this season in that period, the same total as they have managed at all other times of their matches combined. Wigan have only scored first in 20% of their matches this season, and have only led at half time in one of their games. Really not much to write home about up front, with Di Santo and Gomez combining for seven goals on the season and that’s about it. In their last twelve matches, Wigan have conceded at least one goal, so their aren’t great omens for them in this match really. Could be another tough afternoon in their scrap for survival this season. Against other top opposition this season, Wigan have lost 3-0 against Man City and 4-0 recently against Arsenal.

Chelsea Form: Well, we have seen a definite upswing in Chelsea’s form too, so much so that boss Andre Villas Boas has felt vindicated enough to attack the press for writing him off. That may come back to bite him at some point, but regardless, Chelsea are looking in great shape at the moment. December is going to be hugely important for them, and with an easy win over Newcastle to start off the month, and then following that up with a massive 2-1 home win over leaders Manchester City, Chelsea look to be back on track. Villas Boas has stuck to his guns, tweaked the defensive tactics and hasn’t been afraid to go with a new look midfield, which seems to be working. Striker Didier Drogba coming back into his old hungry form hasn’t done any harm at all, but the Blues will lose him early next year to the African Cup of Nations, and with Nicolas Anelka already departing, Chelsea, will at some point have to rely on the contributions of Fernando Torres. Villas Boas has stated that the Spaniard is not for sale in January. Chelsea have suffered two defeats on the road this season, but have turned things around after winning their last two away trips. That has taken them to four wins and a draw away from home, along with those two defeats, which is a 57% win percentage outside of Stamford Bridge, which isn’t great, but could be worse. Chelsea have fired in 12 away goals this season, and have conceded just six, meaning that they are, on average, scoring twice as many as they are conceding away from. However, after struggling for so long this season to keep a clean sheet, the Blues have produced two in their last three, and have scored eight goals in their last three league games as well. So are definitely starting to click, helped out by Villas Boas sending out a settled side, no doubt. Chelsea have been at the most dangerous in front of goal in the last fifteen minutes of games, and have scored first in 60% of their matches, not as high as you may imagine. Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge both have seven goals each for the season, being joint top scorers for their club. 80% of Chelsea’s matches this season have ended over 2.5 goals.

Head to Head: The record stands firmly in favour of Chelsea in this head to head. Out of nine matches between the two sides at Wigan, Chelsea have won seven of them, and Wigan just twice. There have been no draws between them at Wigan, and the Blues have scored more than twice as many goals as Wigan have in this fixture. Chelsea average 2.56 goals in this fixture. Last season’s corresponding fixture ended in a 6-0 away win for Chelsea, but the home fixture before that in the previous season, resulted in a shock 3-1 win for Wigan. All in all though, Wigan have only beaten Chelsea three times out of seventeen encounters in total. The Blues look something of a sure bet.

Online Bookmaker Promotion: Online bookmaker SkyBet welcome all new customers who are registering an account, with a generous and totally free £10 bet. This is completely free and so easy to get! Just register a new SkyBet account and a Free £10 bet will automatically be credited to your new account, giving you some great free betting cash to get started with. That’s all that needs to happen, just register and have a crack at some risk free profit with that completely free £10 bet!

Chelsea v Manchester City Betting Tip & Odds: This really has the potential for plenty of goals, and would therefore look in the goal scorer market. Chelsea’s Frank Lampard has five in his last nine against City, a good strike rate and is priced very well at 3/1 with William Hill as Anytime Scorer and worth a shot really. This could go anywhere, with City average over three goals per game away from home and Chelsea averaging just fewer than three per game at home.

Chelsea to win: 6/4 at Boylesports
Draw: 12/5 at SkyBet
Manchester City to win: 2/1 at Bet365

EPL Match Preview: After contrasting fortunes in the Champions League midweek, these two giants will battle it out on Monday night at Stamford Bridge in Chelsea v Man City betting. Chelsea look to be finding a bit of form, and now need to show the Premier League title challengers that they are not going to roll over without a fight. They must show the likes of Man City and Man Utd that they can compete, after losing to United, Arsenal and Liverpool already this season. As for Man City, they are unbeaten for the season and will have seen United close the gap on them to two points after Saturday’s matches, and so need to show a big response to their city rivals. We are expecting goals from these two high scoring teams and it could all come down to a matter of whose defence will stand up to the expected onslaughts the best. Chelsea need a big win to start eating into the ten point lead City have over them, because if they fall thirteen points behind after Monday, there doesn’t look to be a lot of hope for them catching up. Will City’s league title prospects have been boosted by their Champions League exit? Will the Drogba inspired Chelsea be able to push on from their upswing in form?

Chelsea Form: Maybe, just maybe Chelsea are starting to find their feet a little bit after a rough period in the Barclays Premier League. Their midweek performance at Stamford Bridge against Valencia in the Champions League was one of their best of the season, inspired by a resurgent Didier Drogba who was fired up and so therefore pulled the team with him. Slowly but surely Andre Villas Boas is putting his own stamp on the club, changing up the personnel and looking as if he is more in control. He hasn’t been afraid to drop Frank Lampard for example, and doesn’t seem to be bowing to any pressure to throw on Fernando Torres despite the big money spent on him. The increasingly impressive Spaniard Romelu has earned his spot in the defensive midfield role over Mikel and with Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka and Alex being discussed as gearing up for possible departures, Chelsea are getting younger and moving forward. They were happy to enough to play a very efficient counter attacking game against Valencia, conceding possession but striking hard breaking forward. Maybe this is the way forward for Chelsea, who have also dropped their back line deeper to cut out some of the exposure. It has been no secret that the Blues have not been in great form at home, losing two league matches there already against Arsenal and Liverpool. That is two defeats in their last three Premier League home matches now, with seven goals conceded. However, they did shape up and rattle out a comfortable 3-0 home win over Wolves last time out, before beating Newcastle away by the same scoreline. If you are looking for signs that their back line has tightened up, with a consistent pairing of David Luiz and John Terry, then have kept three clean sheets in their last four matches. However, the Blues will be without Luiz who is serving a ban, meaning Ivanovic will probably come into the centre, with Jose Bosingwa returning to right back. The Blues have hit 19 home goals, but have conceded a surprising eleven. So they still average 2.71 goals per match at home, but are also conceding on average 1.5 goals per match. All of Chelsea’s home games have finished over 2.5 goals this season. Chelsea have been most dangerous in the last fifteen minutes of matches, but that is also the period in which they have conceded the most goals. Daniel Sturridge is top scorer for the club with seven, with Frank Lampard just behind him on six. Sitting in fifth place ten points back of leaders Man City, isn’t a great place and this will be a huge three points for them to gun for.

Manchester City Form: There really is little faulting of Manchester City’s form this season, as they have been an attacking powerhouse. While their defence has been one of the best in the Premier League, they haven’t kept a clean sheet in seven league matches now, and they have only kept a clean sheet in just one of their seven away matches this season. However, those little hiccups have easily been glossed over because they have been so powerful going forward, scoring 48 goals in just 14 league matches, which is a phenomenal rate. They are averaging 3.4 goals per game both home and away which is remarkable, and the only difference is that they have conceded nine on the road compared to four at home. Their last away match produced a 1-1 draw at Liverpool after going down to ten men, which ended a three game winning streak on the road. That is a run of 17 league matches without defeat now for Manchester City, and boss Roberto Mancini clearly has built potential winners here. It will be interesting to see how they perform after confidently beating Bayern Munich, but exiting the Champions League. City could be missing Micah Richards for the match, and Aleksandar Kolarov definitely remains on the sidelines. Mancini’s men have won five and draw two on the road this season, once on their recent trip to Anfield, and once at Craven Cottage where they blew a two nil lead. But they have fired in those 24 goals and do hold a seven match unbeaten streak away from home for the season. Haven’t been too proficient at keeping clean sheets though, which suggests there could be a plenty of goals in this match. City have been most proficient in the second half of matches, with 73% of all their goals coming after the half time break, and they have scored first in 93% of their league matches this season. SergioAguero is top scorer for them on eleven, with Edin Dzeko weighing in with ten and Mario Balotelli with seven as well.

Head to Head: Chelsea do have pretty good home form against the Citizens, having won five of the last six against City, and have only lost once in the last thirteen against Monday’s opponents. Frank Lampard could be drafted back into the side, as he has five goals in his last nine games against Man City. Out of 69 meetings between the two at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have won 35, while City have won on just 14 visits there. Last season’s corresponding fixture ended in a 2-0 win for Chelsea.

Online Bookmaker Promotion: Online bookmaker Bet365 have a Free bet promotion running for your Chelsea v Man City betting. Place a pre match bet on the game, and when you follow that up with a subsequent Live In Play bet on the match, if your first In Play bet loses, then Bet365 will give you a free bet to the value of your highest pre match stake! This is superb coverage for your football betting on this one and well worth taking advantage of, as your first live in play bet on the match is pretty much going to be a risk free one! Tremendous value in taking this promotion. Online bookmaker Bet365 offer a free £200 bet for new customers registering an account with them.