Middlesbrough host Chelsea in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi finals on Tuesday and the Premier League side are firm favourites

A reminder that Liverpool are at home to Fulham in the first leg of their semi final on Wednesday, let's take in an outright betting update to lift the trophy with @Playabets.

Liverpool 8/10

Chelsea 15/10

Fulham 7/1

Middlesbrough 19/1

Middlesbrough

Boro have 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. They now meet top flight opposition for the first time in this cup run.

Boro are in mid table in the Championship with 11 wins, 3 draws and 12 defeats but they are only 4 points off a play off spot on a congested log.

At the weekend Boro went down 1-0 at home to Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup.

Chelsea

Chelsea have been drawn at home in every round. 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 3 of their last 4 but they still only occupy a mid table position and they are 12 points off a top 4 spot. At the weekend

Chelsea beat Championship side Preston 4-0 in another home tie in the FA Cup with all their goals arriving in the second half.

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 Boro are 44/10 to win the game with the draw at 3.36/1 and Chelsea can be backed at around 6/10

A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 6/10 and it's 13/20 for both teams to score

Above markets are for this first leg

The Verdict

Cup football is Chelsea's only chance of success this season and whilst Boro could be a handful on their day I expect Chelsea to take control.

I'm with Chelsea to score in both halves of football and I'll side with Mudryk to register one of them

Bets: Chelsea to score in both halves? (yes) at 12/10 with Playabets

Anytime goalscorer Mudryk at 2/1 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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