PICK OF THE DAY
Chelsea - Barcelona
Tip : GG (both to score)
Odd : 1.70
FT : 1:1 WIN!!!
After a somewhat turbulent period, Chelsea seem to have steadied the ship over the last few weeks. After that humiliating defeat at Watford, the Blues thumped West Brom by three goals to nil, before handing out a beating to Hull City in the FA Cup. Neither of those fixtures were particularly testing for Antonio Conte’s men, but, nevertheless, they got the job done in convincing fashion and will have restored some confidence ahead of this massive game.
Like Chelsea, Barcelona haven’t exactly been in imperious form of late, as they too have suffered a few below par results. A 1-1 draw against Espanyol a few weeks ago was disappointing, as was their 0-0 home draw against Getafe less than a fortnight ago. A 2-0 away win at Eibar on Saturday wasn’t all that convincing either, though it’s fair to say that Ernesto Valverde’s side will have had one eye on this Chelsea fixture.
Barcelona are almost always favourites ahead of a 90-minute clash and this match is no different. Despite playing away from home, the Spanish outfit have been installed as both the favourites to win the first-leg and the favourites to progress overall. In truth, given Chelsea’s recent woes, this is hard to argue with. However, as they themselves have not been firing on all cylinders, they’re perhaps too short. As a betting prospect, ‘Both Teams to Score’ makes more appeal on this occasion, while, as a secondary bet, ‘Chelsea Double Chance’ also stands out.
When watching the current Barca side, you almost get the feeling that they’re simply doing the bare minimum in order to save themselves for later challenges, as the fact that they’ve won by more than one goal in just two of their last seven fixtures suggests. A few seasons ago, such form was unheard of. A recent two-legged Copa del Rey victory over Valencia, whereby Barcelona won both legs by just a goal to nil, and their 1-0 defeat in the first-leg of the previous round are perfect examples. If the Spaniards attempt to do the bare minimum at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, they could easily be punished.
Despite the above, Barcelona remain a side blessed with great attacking quality. Even if they do avoid going all out in the first-leg, the visitors ought to have enough about them to score an away goal. At the other end of the pitch this is a Barca side that can be caught out defensively, as a few teams in Spain have proved in recent weeks.
Having seen how Barcelona have performed in recent first-legs, Chelsea should be really up for this fixture. On home soil, Conte’s men, who’re no strangers to hitting sides on the break, will offer a significant threat on the counter-attack and might just be up to really hurting the Spaniards. They too can get on the score-sheet.
Not only can the hosts find the net against Valverde’s men, but they can also get a result on Tuesday night. With Barca famously not performing (and failing to win) any of their first-leg knockout matches in this competition last season, coupled with the fact that they looked well below par in recent first-leg fixtures against both Espanyol and Valencia domestically, Chelsea might just be a tad too big in the betting and are worth supporting to either win or draw.
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