Chelsea V Stoke City Betting: FA Cup Quarter-Final

FA Cup: Quarter-Final

Chelsea V Stoke City

Kick-Off: Sunday, 7^th March – 16:00 GMT

TV Coverage: ITV1

Chelsea

FA Cup Odds: 11/10 General (Bet365, SkyBet, Boylesports…)

Losing your unbeaten home status, losing your cool, losing the plot – Where do we even start with Chelsea. After getting all the big boys out of the way at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea appeared destined to go the entire length of the season without losing a fixture at home. That was until Manchester City paid them a visit at the weekend and emphatically destroyed Chelsea’s thirteen match streak without losing at The Bridge. It now begs the question as to how, even if, Chelsea respond in their very next competitive fixture which just so happens to be at Stamford Bridge, although, against an awkward Stoke City.

Chelsea should make an almost instant return to winning ways on Sunday by fending off the robust challenge of Stoke City in the FA Cup, but their recent displays have left a lot to be believed, and, for the first time in a long while, Chelsea might actually be a precarious bet even in a home fixture. Their opponents may just be Stoke City, a so called typical ‘Route 1′ kind of side, but The Potters have made a nuisance of themselves since joining the Premiership ranks last season and pushed Chelsea all the way in the reverse meeting back at The Brittania Stadium with Chelsea needing a 96^th minute Malouda strike to seal all three points.  

If we are to remain completely unbiased and honest, Chelsea should still have far too much for the likes of Stoke City, whom will be reeling after the weekend’s events. However, Carlo Ancelotti does have an healing act on his hands as their capitulation at home to Man City over the weekend was something out of the pictures, a sight you don’t see too often, or never in Chelsea’s recent era. Frank Lampard got proceedings off to a flyer when swinging a swift right foot to slide the ball across Shay Given’s path in a first half that Chelsea not only dominated entirely but should have had more than just the one goal to show for their efforts. This was arguably the roots of their downfall as a costly mistake at the other end of the field just before the break, by a clearly shaken John Terry, led to Carlos Tevez scrambling home an equaliser.  

Chelsea never really recovered from that error and it was mistakes galore from there on out, with Beletti seeing red whilst conceding a game changing penalty, whilst Michael Ballack was sent off for a rash challenge, with his frustrated attempt at a challenge indicative of how the rest of the team were feeling on what was a fay to remember for the blues. Lampard did score his second from the spot late on but that game is now in the past and Chelsea must somehow put their abysmal result to one side and concentrate on a game just as important, if not more so than their last.

Hilario will continue in goal, which won’t fill Chelsea fans nor punters with any great deal of confidence after his pathetic showing on Saturday, while Juliano Beletti and Michael Ballack will both miss this Quarter-Final showdown through suspension, leaving Ancelotti with a selection headache.

Stoke City

FA Cup Odds: 25/1 Coral

It was a weekend to forget for Tony Pulis and his Stoke team, much like their FA Cup opponents, although for completely different circumstances. In what is a results business, it wasn’t the defeat that caught the attention of most Stoke fans on Saturday when losing 3-1 to Arsenal, no, but more about the unfortunate going-on’s during the game which seen Ryan Shawcross sent off for a clumsy tackle which was a product of a compound fracture for poor old Aaron Ramsay. Emotions were running high, with Shawcross himself leaving the pitch in tears, and with the players clearly being shaken mentally after that incident, it’s now Tony Pulis’ job to get his Stoke squad back on track and back in the right mindset in time for this trip to the capital. 

We don’t want to delve too much into Saturday’s commotion as we could go on forever, however, we will concentrate more on the end result and one which will have a huge impact on the confidence of the players as the 3-1 defeat at home to Arsenal was a momentum killing one. Stoke were previously on an unbeaten run of seven games in the league, accompanied by a string of mesmerizing displays in the FA Cup which has aided them in a Quarter-Final appearance against the current holders of the trophy. Those two injury time goals has stopped Stoke firmly in their tracks, perhaps even derailed them considering the manner in which they lost, and much like their opponents it will be interesting to see just how the respond on Sunday.

The obvious factor to point out is that influential defender Ryan Shawcross will miss the trip to Chelsea through suspension, although that will go without saying to some degree. However, the good news is that Matthew Etherington, one of the players of the season at Stoke in our eyes, could return from a knee injury to possibly expose what is a weakened Chelsea side in defence, especially in the full-back areas. He is still a doubt, but should he feature then Stoke’s chance of success would greatly increase as he would amply supply their strong forwards.

However, it’s the forwards which concern us the most, even more so should Etherington not feature as Stoke have been useless in front of goal on their travels this season. While Stoke did earn a well deserving draw in the last round at Man City, scoring one goal via Ricardo Fuller, Stoke have managed just seven goals away from home back in the Premiership, failing to score in over half of their away outings (6/13). However, their luck in front of the sticks has improved in recent outings, not only finding a way past Shay Given in the last round at The City of Manchester stadium but also locating the goal in their previous two league outings away at Wigan Athletic & Portsmouth, although, we expect you’ve quickly acknowledge that both their opponents are in lousy form and near the foot of the table so perhaps their recent goalscoring trend is of little use to us and a tad deceiving.

Match Verdict: Chelsea to WIN – 1.30 SkyBet

While Stoke will look to defend in numbers, using their physical attributes; their hunger, aggressive manner and resilience to their advantage, they lack the quality up front, that cutting edge to really cause Chelsea any problems. It would take some performance, and then some, were Stoke to be the second team this season to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It’s something the bookies haven’t comprehended and it’s an outcome that doesn’t even feature in our equations. Chelsea should be far too strong in attack and, providing they take one of a predicted haul of chances, should safely bypass this Stoke City physical.

Match Odds:

Chelsea – 1.30 SkyBet

Draw – 6.00 BlueSquare

Stoke City – 11.00 SportingBet