English Premier
2012-05-02 - Chelsea vs Newcastle United
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : English : Premier League
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012, 7:45PM GMT
PREVIEW
It's been fun making fun of Torres, but I think that time might just have past now. For well over a year the Spaniard has been a monumental waste of the £50m Chelsea spent to bring him to West London from Liverpool. Time and again he missed easy chances, and the stock response was that he was just missing confidence. Well, when you score a goal in the Nou Camp to knock defending champions and bestteamever Barcelona out of the Champions League, sending your own side to the finals...that confidence has no choice but to come back, and then some!
Something must have clicked back into place because suddenly, Torres returned to being Torres, and in his next match he scored 3 goals as his side mauled their neighbours QPR in a 6-1 win. Newcastle United did not do what was needed, getting thrashed 4-0 by Wigan, and that means they can now be leapfrogged by Chelsea, should they lose. In fact, Chelsea could go above Newcastle and Tottenham and into 4th place all by themselves. On current form, without a loss in 6 games, you wouldn't want to bet against them.
The only issue one could argue is the FA Cup game that is looming this weekend. Chelsea thrashed Tottenham 5-1 to book their place in the finals at Wembley, where they face this years Cup specialists Liverpool. The Reds clearly had their priorities set on the weekend, as they made changes to the squad and lost at home for the first time to Fulham. Chelsea should not do anything of the sort, as they know they are in for a tough game in the Champions League final, where they face Bayern Munich in their own stadium. There is a very real chance of losing that, in which case only a 4th place finish would see them compete again next year. Chelsea will take no chances with that!
Newcastle have never won at Chelsea in the Premier League, that's 17 trips now. Overall, Chelsea have not lost to Newcastle in their last 9 league meetings, home or away. Despite Newcastle's great league position at this stage, with a real chance at Champions League qualification, they have lost 5 of their last 8 away games in the league, conceding 19 goals in those 5 losses!
London has not been a happy place for the Magpies to visit, as they have conceded 20 goals in the capital and left with just 2 points. With Chelsea re-juvinated under Di Matteo I cannot find a reason to bet on Newcastle, although there is a spot of value in the 4.50 you can get on the draw. Let's not forget that the Magpies have Pappis Cisse, who has been scoring for fun in recent games, and have other dangerous players in Ben Arfa and Demba Ba.
BETTING VERDICT
I'm going to suggest a risky bet here as I don't like the low odds on the Chelsea win. Take Papiss Cisse to score at any time at a rather generous 3.50 as he was kept shut the last game and looks the player in the best form. Newcastle must win here to have a realistic chance at 4th, and I think win or lose we should see them put in a herculean effort.
For your main bet, I've another risky bet. Chelsea to take it by the narrowest of margins.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Chelsea
BEST BETTING TIP :
MAIN BET:Take Chelsea to win by a 1 goal margin @ 4.00 (Bet365)
Also consider:
Papiss Cisse to score @ 3.50 (Ladbrokes)
