Chelsea v Manchester United
If there is one game more full of angst this weekend then I would be shocked. Jose Mourinho’s drawn out departure from Chelsea last season left behind a lot of ill feeling and matches like this one are bound to see some of that seep from its mouldy container.
Mourinho will argue he’s moved on and even improved his position, that has some merit but I’m sure Jose won’t be happy that the same group of players that performed so badly for him raised their game after he left.
And the ill feeling won’t be one way either. Jose annoyed a number of players during his time at Chelsea and I doubt they’ll have forgotten that. Add that to the usual needle you get in a match between these two and it could be explosive.
Judging the game purely on its merits then Chelsea hold the edge. They have the better stats for attack and defence, win games by a bigger margin and have home advantage. Chelsea are also in better form and have an edge in head to head results over the last few seasons.
With all of that going for them, you may be a bit confused as to why Chelsea are available at around 2.2 among Green Listed Bookmaker. The answer to that question is that United have some imponderables. Will Jose close down the game in the same way he did against Liverpool. Will Ibrahimovic turn it on and score a worldy that wins the match. Can Pogba be as ineffective in this game as he was in the last?
In my opinion, it is questions like that which are keeping the Chelsea odds relatively high and creating a fair bit of value for a Chelsea win.
Value that I’m not going to ignore.
Chelsea have improved since last season without being too drastic in changing their squad. The players that were dangerous in previous seasons are still dangerous (Costa has 7 goals and Hazard has 3). They’ve worked to improve their defence and are allowing the opposition less shots on goal as a result. Conte is a meticulous manager that prepares fully for every match and this one will be no different.
So how do I expect this game to go? I suspect it will be a tight game with very few chances. Both keepers will get the occasional chance to show off their ability but in the end, I think Chelsea will be just a little bit too good in this one.
So, I’m backing a Chelsea win at 2.22 with Pinnacle and also playing a smaller bet on Under 2.5 goals with SBOBet at 1.88.
The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge could be intense for this one and I think the game will be the same.
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