| Saturday EPL |
Thu, 19 April 2012 08:19  |
 Marty Otto
Messages: 7662
Registered: April 2006 |
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Absolutely brutal spot for Chelsea this weekend. Third game in seven days and each of the previous two were high intensity cup ties against Tottenham (FA) and Barcelona (UEFA CL).
You have to figure De Mateo is going to change his starting 11 up which would likely leave at least a couple of influential players on the sideline. If not, well, those guys are likely to have heavy legs.
You don't have to go back far to see how difficult it is to get up after these tough Champions League games. Chelsea had a lackadaisical showing against Aston Villa following a semifinal match against Benfica at the end of March. They followed that up with another pretty poor showing against Wigan following the second leg of the semifinal on Arpil 7.
Obviously Chelsea is concerned with a top 4 finish in the league but remember how much pressure/focus owner Roman Abromovich must be dictating to the current tie in the Champions League, a crown he covets more than anything else in football. If they should go through and win the CL they automatically qualify next year. This road trip is really tricky... do they go all out with a trip to Spain waiting in 72 hours?
And look at the Blues form on the road of late... three losses, one win, one draw. Not exactly setting the world on fire.
Arsenal on the other hand are rested and ready to fire after a disappointing loss to Wigan. It was one I saw coming (and have seen often watching Arsenal the past decade). But their play in that game notwithstanding they've been in excellent form and you've got to believe they bounce back here.
With a makeshift back line probably trotted out by Chelsea I think Arsenal can exploit the Blues with their speed. Look for middle cutting runs from the likes of Walcott and/or Ox/Gervinho coming in from the outside and for Rosicky to be a focal point in the middle. His play has been outstanding of late, like he got in a time machine.
Note that while Chelsea kept a clean sheet against Barca the Spanish side hit the post twice, flew one golden chance over the bar from six yards out and had one goal cleaned off the line by a scrambling defender after Cech was beaten. It could have been (and likely should have been) a much different score line.
I'm playing Arsenal at +100 and will look to play their team total OV as well.
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| Re: Saturday EPL |
Thu, 19 April 2012 08:39  |
TarHeel
Messages: 1907
Registered: February 2012 |
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| Martin wrote on Thu, 19 April 2012 08:19 |
Note that while Chelsea kept a clean sheet against Barca the Spanish side hit the post twice, flew one golden chance over the bar from six yards out and had one goal cleaned off the line by a scrambling defender after Cech was beaten. It could have been (and likely should have been) a much different score line.
I'm playing Arsenal at +100 and will look to play their team total OV as well.
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I love it, and agree completely. I was a bettor on the over in the Champion's League match and felt extremely unlucky not to cash a Barca 2-1 winning over 2.5 ticket.
Over this 9 day span, Chelsea has the following test, and I decided to bet the over 2.5 in every contest, with a similar train of thought to yours above. Chelsea has been scoring at a decent clip as of late, but their defending has looked tired:
April 15 v Spurs AWAY Flew over 5-1
April 18 v Barca HOME Stayed under 1-0, but merely by bad luck!
April 21 v Arsenal AWAY
April 24 v Barca AWAY
[Updated on: Thu, 19 April 2012 08:40]
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| Re: Saturday EPL |
Thu, 19 April 2012 12:00 |
TarHeel
Messages: 1907
Registered: February 2012 |
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Played ATL BILBAO PK +105 too
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