Chelsea v Southampton FA Cup, 22nd April 3.00pm
Southampton’s Premier League season hasn’t gone well so the FA Cup has been a nice release for them and they get a big day out at Wembley on the weekend. They threw away a 2-0 lead at home against Chelsea in the league last weekend to lose 3-2 but at least they were competitive in the match. Can they rattle Chelsea, who will be going into the fixture as favourites? This is the final shot at silverware for the Blues this season so they aren’t going to take it lightly.
Chelsea v Southampton FA Cup Betting Odds*
Chelsea 2/5, Draw 7/2, Southampton 13/2* (Betting Odds taken at 6:50 p.m. on April 16th, 2018)
Chelsea v Southampton FA Cup Betting Tips
The FA Cup is Chelsea’s last shot at success this season. It all started in a pretty nervy fashion for them as well. After drawing a Championship side Norwich, they were taken all the way to a penalty shoot-out in the replay before squeezing through there. Things got a little more comfortable for them though as they banked clean-sheet home wins over Newcastle and Hull in subsequent rounds. That left them with a tricky away tie at Leicester in the quarter finals, but the Blues got through thanks to a great extra time winner produced by Pedro. Chelsea won’t be disappointed with the draw here either having avoided Spurs and Manchester United in the semi-final draw. In the bet365 correct score market a Chelsea 2-0 result is at 11/2 odds with a 2-1 success for them at 7/1* (Betting Odds taken at 6:50 p.m. on April 16th, 2018). Chelsea have had some real troubles picking up clean sheets recently.
Chelsea have collected seven FA Cup wins, with the last of those happening in 2012. They made it to last season’s final where they were favourites against Arsenal, but slipped to a 2-1 loss. Just last weekend Chelsea met Southampton in the Premier League and managed to turn around a 2-0 deficit with three goals in the final twenty minutes of action to bank the victory. Chelsea had won their home game against Southampton 1-0 so a Chelsea to win by a one-goal margin bet at bet365 for 5/2 odds* (Betting Odds taken at 6:50 p.m. on April 16th, 2018) looks a decent proposition. Southampton are up in the FA Cup head to head with Chelsea, having won four of the previous eight (D3 L1) against the Blues. Currently, though Chelsea are on a five-match winning streak against Southampton across all competitions, losing just one of their last ten against them (losing two of the last 19 head to heads).
All but two of the last eight games between Chelsea and Southampton have produced at least three goals so over 2.5 goals at bet365 is at 4/5 odds* (Betting Odds taken at 6:50 p.m. on April 16th, 2018) is worth a look. Southampton have won the FA Cup once before, getting the title in 1976. The Saints have been to the FA Cup final on three other occasions finishing runners-up, the most recent of which was in 2003 against Arsenal. Southampton are struggling to survive in the Premier League but through the FA Cup, they do at least have a chance to come away with some positive. They opened with a win at Championship side Fulham, before taking out Watford at St Mary’s. After a victory at West Brom, they took out League One side Wigan, the surprise conquerors of Man City in this season’s Cup. Three of Southampton’s FA Cup wins this season have been by a one-goal margin only. They are going to have to overcome some poor head to head form against the Blues to progress, but going as underdogs the pressure won’t be on them.
Who will win – Chelsea v Southampton FA Cup Predictions
Chelsea should be strong enough with the depth that they have and their creative players should express themselves with the extra space available on the Wembley pitch. Southampton are likely to come up short again but as they were competitive recently against the Blues, back a Chelsea to win & both teams to score option.
