Manchester City vs Chelsea
The first silverware of the English football season is up for grabs on Sunday when Manchester City and Chelsea meet in the final of the EFL Cup.
It’s the kind of game we love in the SBOBET football team: two of the Premier League giants clashing in front of a packed Wembley Stadium with one of them picking up a trophy to set a powerful marker for the remainder of the season.
For Manchester City, it’s one to tick off in their latest quest to achieve an incredible quadruple; for Chelsea, it might just be a reprieve for their beleaguered coach, Maurizio Sarri.
Talking Points
Is it too early to talk of Quadruple?
This could be the first part of the Sky Blues’ bid to pick up a domestic treble and add it to Champions League glory. Is it too early to speak of that; after all, we’re still only in February? Well, Pep Guardiola’s side is the favourite to win each individual competition. Liverpool have the task of holding them off in the Premier League, while their main threat to FA Cup glory, Manchester United, had a stinker of a tie away to dangerous Wolves.
Leroy Sane scored a beautiful free-kick to level the scores as the Sky Blues came from behind, with ten men, to beat FC Schalke in the first leg of their Champions League clash. It was City at their best, coming back to win at the death, recovering from two controversial penalties and a harsh red card for Nicolas Otamendi. There was a calm assuredness about the team, unfazed by the prospect of taking a deficit back to the Etihad, but focussed to the end.
That win puts them in complete control of the tie against a side struggling in the Bundesliga.
It all looks a little ominous for Chelsea. Manchester City are blessed with such attacking talent in Sane, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus that the next goal is always just around the corner. Jesus has five EFL Cup goals already and, with such strength in depth, the final EFL Cup 2019 highlights are certain to feature the contest between City’s attack and the Blues’ defence.
And with the creative genius of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, the pressure on Chelsea will be relentless at times.
Sarri on the brink
Part of the job description as Chelsea coach is to have your bags packed and ready in anticipation of a speedy journey towards the exit door when things go wrong. The owner isn’t noted for his powers of patience, and Maurizio Sarri is under huge pressure. The former Napoli boss took 18 months to get things right in Serie A but he knows full well that winning football games, and quickly, is the only way of lengthening his stay at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea boss hasn’t held back on criticising his team, but he’s become more introspective recently, admitting: “I am not able to get out of my players a very high level of aggression and determination.”
So how can the Blues beat the league champions? Well, they only have to win one game, and Schalke came within a whisker of succeeding in that daunting task. In fact, Newcastle United stunned City less than a month ago.
The obvious point is that they need to thwart City’s talented attack, and both Jorginho and N’Golo Kante must give their defence a first line of protection while finding their own front men. The Blues can’t afford to rely solely on the superb Eden Hazard, and this could be the perfect stage for new signing Gonzalo Higuain to make his mark.
History
Chelsea fans need to look away when we talk about the most recent history between Manchester City and Chelsea when Pep’s boys humiliated the Blues with a 6-0 thrashing just ten days ago. City were as scintillating as Chelsea were appalling.
The Blues have won 27 of the 49 games between these two clubs, since 1993, with seven drawn, but City have won four of the last five meetings. Each game was won without conceding.
The Sky Blues come in with five wins on the bounce, while Chelsea have three defeats in six. While Sarri may struggle to lift his players, Pep’s job is to keep his team focused after a superb Euro night.
Betting Tip
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Manchester City vs Chelsea | Over 2.5 goals @ 1.80 |
| February 25, 12:30 (GMT+8) |
The EFL Cup 2019 betting markets have nailed their colours to the mast and they are distinctly Sky Blue, with Manchester City at 1.55 to win, Chelsea at 5.40 and 4.00 the draw.
But I think the value is in a high-scoring game. I can’t see Chelsea holding out under intense pressure, but then I can see Hazard or Higuain grabbing a goal.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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