Tag: Diego Costa

West Brom v Chelsea – Premiership Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Forecasting Premiership matches at this time of the season can be fraught with danger. The Monday night game between West Brom and Chelsea should have the feeling of a friendly about it with neither team having any meaningful incentive.

The Blues have been basking in their Premiership Title success for a couple of weeks now and only have this game before collecting their trophy at Stamford Bridge when Sunderland visit on Sunday. There has been speculation that Diego Costa may make a late season return but I cannot see Jose Mourinho taking any needless risks with his leading striker.

Had the Spaniard been one goal behind Aguero in the race for the Golden Boot, it may have been interesting. As it is, Aguero enjoyed a free-for-all courtesy of QPR last week and has it sewn up with a six goal advantage. Eden Hazard has been taking the plaudits and rightly so. He has been far and away Chelsea’s best player this season. You can hardly blame him for letting his standards dip in the 1-1 draw against Liverpool last week.

Perhaps one of the unsung heroes of the side has been Willian. He is finishing the season in really good form and it would be nice to see him hit the target. He is competitively priced at 14-1 to open the scoring and 11-2 to score at any time. His electrifying pace has been a joy to watch this season but his finishing has not quite matched it. If he can add something of the Hazard instinct for goal, he will be an even better player next season.

Chelsea beat Albion 2-0 at Stamford Bridge but that was before the arrival of Tony Pulis. He has certainly made the Baggies a tougher side to beat, despite a brief dip in form and a shock 4-1 defeat at home to QPR. They have bounced back since then and are unbeaten in their last four matches.

Mourinho will be without Ramires, Oscar and Zouma so there could be starting places for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Isaiah Brown. It is a game that neither side will want to lose rather than one that they feel a desperate need to win. Pulis will be keen for his team to finish the season on a positive note against the champions and the best bet may be to side with a draw.

West Brom v Chelsea DRAW @5-2 Bet365

West Brom 1 Chelsea 1 @6-1 Bet365

Willian to score at any time @11-2 Unibet

Willian to score first @14-1 Unibet

Champions League – Chelsea v PSG Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

With Arsenal and Manchester City having suffered home defeats in their first leg Champions League ties, Chelsea have the best chance of the Premiership being represented in the last eight.

A hard-fought 1-1 draw in Paris has given them a slender advantage for the return leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. Jose Mourinho has been complaining about the persistent fouling from PSG in the first match, much of it focussed on Eden Hazard. In the end, Chelsea were more than happy to escape with a draw after being on the back foot for much of the second half.

According to the bookmakers, Chelsea are firm favourites to qualify but I think it will be a difficult night for the Blues. They scraped through against PSG last year, thanks to a late goal by Demba Ba. They were forced to attack that night having lost the first leg 3-1 but will be in two minds here.

Chelsea were rocked by a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley in the Premier League after that game but have since lifted the Capital One Cup and battled to a 1-0 win at West Ham. They were without Nemanja Matic for both games but he is eligible to return on Wednesday night. Defender Kurt Zouma did a wonderful job in filling in for him in two vital games but it remains to be seen whether his name will feature on the team sheet.

Striker Diego Costa has not been at his best in recent matches but his presence clearly troubles the opposition. However, PSG carry plenty of attacking threat with the likes of Ibrahimovic, Cavani and Lavezzi. It is going to be very difficult for Chelsea to keep them at bay for 90 minutes and the goals market interests me. I think that both sides will score during the game and one goal from PSG changes the complexion of the tie. They will then be in pole position, knowing that a second goal will leave Chelsea needing to score three to qualify. A 2-2 score-line would send the Blues out but it may be worth a speculative wager.

In the night’s other tie, Bayern Munich should book their place in the last eight by overcoming Shakhtar Donetsk. The first leg remained goalless after Xabi Alonso received his marching orders. They have more than enough strength in their squad to make up for his absence here and are worth considering on the handicap markets.

Chelsea v PSG DRAW @5-2 Sky Bet

Chelsea 2 PSG 2 @20-1 Betfair

Both teams to score @Evens Paddy Power

Bayern Munich (-2.0) to beat Shakhtar @29-20 Boylesports

PSG to grab first-leg lead over Chelsea

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Premiership leaders Chelsea renew rivalry with Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday night. The two sides met in the quarter-finals last year with PSG winning the first leg 3-1 but going out on goal difference after losing 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

The goalscorers for Chelsea were Andre Schurrle and Demba Ba who have both since left the club. It was a fascinating tactical battle between Jose Mourinho and Laurent Blanc and it produced two fiery encounters. David Luiz scored an own-goal in the blue of Chelsea and is now playing for PSG after his £50million transfer in the summer.

Chelsea are bidding to reach the last eight of the competition for the seventh time in nine years and are currently leading the Premiership by seven points. Talk of them being unbeatable has long since been put to rest with defeats at Newcastle and Tottenham and a humbling FA Cup exit at the hands of Bradford City. They have reached the final of the Capital One Cup but it is the league and this competition on which their season will ultimately be judged.

They went out to Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals last year and face a stern test against PSG. They have looked distinctly average without Diego Costa but managed to secure vital wins over Aston Villa and Everton in his enforced absence. Their top scorer received a three-match ban for stamping on an opponent in the Cup clash with Liverpool. He will return to the side on Tuesday and it will be fascinating to see him playing against Luiz.

I have been impressed by Juan Cuadrado so far and he looks the type of player to relish these big games. Mourinho may elect to rest Willian rather than play his two wingers in the first hour of this match against a strong PSG side.

Blanc’s team have not lost in 32 home matches in European competition but they have looked vulnerable in recent league games. They have been beaten at EA Guingamp and SC Bastia and let a 2-0 lead slip away against SM Caen last weekend. Nevertheless, the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi give them plenty of attacking options. I can see this being a long night for the Blues and PSG look good value to grab a first-leg advantage.

The other Champions League match on Tuesday should go the way of Bayern Munich. The 2013 winners visit Shakhtar and are in red-hot form after winning 8-0 in the league. They should have too much class for their opponents and are worth considering in the goal and handicap markets.

PSG to beat Chelsea @7-4 Paddy Power

Bayern Munich (-1.0 handicap) to win @11-10 Paddy Power

Chelsea face Man City without Diego Costa

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Chelsea’s prospects of inflicting a defeat on champions Man City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday were dealt a hefty blow with the news that Diego Costa has received a three-match ban.

The striker was charged with violent conduct for stamping on Emre Can during Chelsea’s midweek victory over Liverpool. Claims that the incident was accidental were presumably brushed aside in view of the fact that Costa had produced a very similar challenge on Martin Skrtel later in the match, although the Liverpool player was also guilty of retaliation.

The ban will provide further for conspiracy theorists, Jose Mourinho among them, who believe that there is a campaign against the Premiership leaders. The loss of Costa is a big blow for Saturday’s late kick-off but it could be even worse if Cesc Fabregas also fails to recover from his hamstring injury. The Spaniard is on course to break all records for assists in Premiership football this season and the Blues would undoubtedly miss his creativity in midfield.

Chelsea currently hold a five-point advantage over the champions and there must be an increasing likelihood that they would view a point as a good result. The Blues have won all ten home games so far this season and were only pegged back in the 85th minute in the reverse fixture by a certain Frank Lampard. Allowing Lampard to play in a City shirt this season via New York must go down as a case of neglect by Chelsea. It has already cost them dearly with Lampard rescuing City on several occasions, not just in that 1-1 draw at the Etihad.

City are not exactly on fire at the moment having been beaten by Arsenal in Middlesbrough in their last two games. They will take the FA Cup loss on the chin but they were below par against Arsenal and still do not have Yaya Toure back from the Africa Cup of Nations. The more I look at this match, the more I fear a dour stalemate. If the name of Mikel features in the Blues line-up it seems to safe to assume that Chelsea would settle for a point. It is more a match that neither side can afford to lose than one that they have to win.

Chelsea v Man City DRAW @5-2 Bet365

Chelsea 1 Man City 1 @6-1 Bet365*

*Bet365 will refund correct score bets if the game ends in a 0-0 Bore draw

Chelsea to bounce back from FA Cup shock

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Chelsea were stunned by Bradford in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday and will be desperate to bounce back against Liverpool in Tuesday’s Capital One Cup semi-final second leg.

The two sides shared the spoils at Anfield a week ago with the Blues grateful to escape with a draw after a second half onslaught from the home side. Jose Mourinho made nine changes for the FA Cup and all looked to be going well as they moved into a 2-0 lead. The wheels came off dramatically after that with matters going from bad to worse after the introduction of Fabregas, Hazard and Willian.

It would be dangerous to read too much into one defeat. After all, Chelsea had put up a similar performance when conceding five goals at Tottenham but came back strongly with three victories. The last of those was a thumping 5-0 win at Swansea, a result which had the pundits spouting superlatives once again.

It seems safe to assume that Courtois, Terry, Matic and Costa will return to the side on Tuesday. Presumably Hazard, Fabregas and Willian will also start as Chelsea bid to book a Wembley place. The Capital One Cup would have been fourth in the order of preference for silverware this season but takes on new significance in the wake of Saturday’s result.

Liverpool did not exactly set the world alight with a bore draw against Bolton and face a tricky replay. The weak performances by Liverpool and Man United were almost forgotten with Chelsea and Man City crashing out so dramatically. Raheem Sterling gave Brendan Rodgers’s team a lifeline at Anfield and will be the danger man again on Tuesday night. Chelsea’s central partnership of Cahill and Terry has looked slow at times this season and it is easy to imagine Liverpool breaking through at some point.

Unfortunately for them, they are less certain to score twice with want-away skipper Steven Gerrard currently leading goal scorer with five. Meanwhile, Diego Costa has racked up 17 for the Blues and he will be trying to get under their skin again here. There was apparently some “afters” in the tunnel between Costa and Jordan Henderson so the game will have its usual spice. Chelsea are well equipped to deal with a physical contest and they can come through a typically tough encounter.

Chelsea to win in 90 minutes @4-6 BetVictor

Chelsea 3 Liverpool 1 @12-1 Bet365

Diego Costa to score and Chelsea win @7-5 Ladbrokes

Premier League Preview 17th-19th January

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Chelsea have an opportunity to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday when they visit Swansea. Their task seems to have been made a little easier by the sale of Wilfried Bony to Man City in midweek, although the Blues still need to banish their nightmare performance at White Hart Lane from their minds.

Victories over Watford and Newcastle have steadied the ship and both were achieved without conceding. It will be interesting to see whether Petr Cech is allowed to keep his place with Courtois fit to resume between the posts. After a sleepy first half last week against the Magpies, the Blues turned on the style in the second half with Diego Costa looking particularly sharp. He does not look happy until he’s scored and he can continue to be a thorn in the bookmakers’ side.

Champions Man City do not play until Sunday when they welcome Arsenal to the Etihad. The Gunners have looked good against mediocre opposition but their defeat to Southampton was a reminder that they still have to improve to cement a top four spot. City were held last week by Everton despite the return of Aguero in the second half. He may need a couple of games to get back to full fitness and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arsenal grab a point from this one.

The match of the day this week could be at Loftus Road where Harry Redknapp’s QPR host Man United. Rangers extended their awful away form to ten successive defeats at Burnley but are tough to beat at home, suffering only two defeats so far this season. United faltered at home to a well organised Southampton side on Sunday and this could be quite a scrap. I’m going for goals in this one and United to escape with a 3-2 victory.

The rest of the weekend’s fixtures are less inspiring and it may be worth linking several of them up as draws. Liverpool may make hard work of beating Aston Villa and the same goes for Tottenham at home to Sunderland. The games at Leicester, Burnley and Newcastle could all go the same way. Southampton may have been impressive at Old Trafford but the Magpies put up a good fight at Stamford Bridge and won’t be a pushover.

The Monday night game sees Everton host West Brom with the spotlight still on Roberto Martinez after their unlucky FA Cup exit at West Ham. They showed battling spirit in that match and against City last weekend but are no certainty to beat Albion.

Liverpool to beat Villa by one goal @13-5 Ladbrokes

Burnley v Crystal Palace DRAW @9-4 Bet365

Leicester v Stoke DRAW @12-5 Betfred

QPR 2 Man United 3 @28-1 Bet365

QPR v Man United over 3.5 goals at 21-10 BetVictor

Diego Costa scores and Chelsea win @13-8 Paddy Power

Swansea 0 Chelsea 2 @13-2 BetVictor

Newcastle v Southampton DRAW @12-5 Ladbrokes

Tottenham to beat Sunderland by one goal @14-5 BetVictor

West Ham v Hull DRAW @11-4 Bet365

Man City v Arsenal DRAW @3-1 Betfair

Everton v West Brom DRAW @13-5 Coral