Chelsea are 1-0 down to Middlesbrough heading into the second leg of their EFL Cup semi final on Tuesday and the Premier League side are firm favourites to turn things around.
A reminder that Liverpool lead Fulham 2-1 and the second leg of their semi final takes place at Fulham on Wednesday, let's take in an outright betting update to lift the trophy with @Playabets.
Liverpool 15/10
Chelsea 9/4
Fulham 12/1
Middlesbrough 14/1
Chelsea
Chelsea created and missed a number of chances in their 1-0 defeat at Boro in the first leg with Cole Palmer the main culprit. They dominated possession, 72%, and won the corner count 61 but only 5 of their 18 shots registered were on target.
Prior to the first leg Chelsea had been drawn at home in all the previous rounds. They stumbled past Wimbledon with a 2-1 win before seeing off Brighton 1-0 and Blackburn 2-0. Their quarter final clash with Newcastle was also staged at Stamford Bridge and an injury time equalizer from Mudryk salvaged a 1-1 draw and Chelsea went on to win the shoot out.
League form shows Chelsea have won each of their last 3 and they are back in the top half of the table. They beat Championship side Preston 4-0 in another home tie in the FA Cup before the first leg defeat in this tie and 1 other game since then saw them edge Fulham 1-0 in a league game at Stamford Bridge
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough had a lengthy injury list heading into the first leg but Hayden Hackney was their hero with the only goal of the game in the first half.
In contrast to Chelsea, Boro had been drawn away from home in every round so far. They won at Huddersfield (3-2), Bolton (3-1), Bradford (2-0) and Exeter (3-2) and in the quarter finals they saw off Port Vale with a 3-0 win.
Boro are in mid table in the Championship with 12 wins, 4 draws and 12 defeats but they are only 3 points off a play off spot on a congested log.
Boro went down 1-0 at home to Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup earlier this month and 2 league games since the first leg saw them win 3-1 at Millwall and draw 1-1 at home to Rotherham. .
Recent Head to Head
The teams last met in a FA Cup tie at Boro in March 2022 and Chelsea won it 2-0.
The Betting
At the time of writing Chelsea are 0.27/1 to win the game with the draw at 5.24/1 and Boro can be backed at around 88/10
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 0.43/1 and it's 0.82/1 for both teams to score
Above markets are for regulation time.
The Verdict
Although Chelsea have been prone to missing chances Boro will probably need to find the net at some stage if they are to have any chance of reaching the final.
I'm looking for a Chelsea goalscorer in regulation time and Raheem Sterling gets my vote.
Bets: Anytime goalscorer Raheem Sterling at 13/10 with Playabets
100% match on your first deposit up to R2000 for new customers
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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