Can City overcome Chelsea?

Manchester City v Chelsea It’s make or break time for Manchester City this evening when they host Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League. The Citizens are currently four points adrift of the their rivals Manchester United at the top of the table and with only 10 matches remaining of the 2011/12 season, Roberto Mancini knows that his team must come away with maximum points if they are going to keep the pressure on United. Can City overcome Chelsea?

The main talking point going into tonight’s match is whether Roberto Mancini will give striker Carlos Tevez a chance to shine. The Argentinian hasn’t played for City for six months now, but with City desperate to close the gap on United at the top of the table, Tevez could be called upon to provide City with that little extra edge upfront. It’s 5/6 with Bet Victor for Tevez to play some part of City’s match this evening (5/6 not to play) and 7/2 that he’s given 11 to 20 minutes on the pitch (5/1 one to 10 minutes, 6/1 21 to 30 minutes and 10/1 over 30 minutes).

City are the 10/11 favourites (general) to come away victorious and having won all 14 of their Premier League matches at home this season, the Blues will be confident of a win. The main concern though is that they will still be without both Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany at the back so it will be left to Stefan Savic and Kolo Toure to stop the Chelsea frontmen. With this in mind it’s hard to see City managing to stop Chelsea from scoring especially if Fernando Torres can build on his two goals against Leicester on Sunday. It’s 8/11 for both teams to score and this does look a cracking bet.

Chelsea on the other hand will be confident of all but ending Manchester City’s hopes of picking up their first Premier League title and with four wins from their last four matches under Roberto Di Matteo, the Blues will be eager to come away victorious and keep alive their Champions League qualification ambitions. It’s 7/2 (Ladbrokes) for Chelsea to gain maximum points this evening and 11/8 (Paddy Power) that they finish in the top four.

One player that will be hoping to make an impact tonight is the Chelsea striker Fernando Torres. The Spaniard has had trouble finding his scoring form since moving to Chelsea (36 appearances and three goals) but his brace against Leicester in the FA Cup could just be what is needed to kick-start the 28-year-old. It’s 3/1 (Paddy Power) for Torres to score in 90 minutes and 10/1 (Stan James) he scores the opening goal of the match.

Anybody looking at having a bet on Manchester City v Chelsea, the total goals in the match betting could be a worthwhile bet. It’s evens with Bet365 for the match to contain exactly two or three goals and with City currently averaging three goals at match in the league at home and Chelsea having one of the tightest defences in the league away from home (conceded 13 goals from 14 matches), it’s hard to see either side running away with it. Another football betting market that could produce a return is a penalty to be awarded. The last five meetings between these two sides has seen four penalties awarded so the 2/1 available with Paddy Power for a penalty to be awarded could produce a return.

The correct score betting is another interesting football betting market with a 1-1 scoreline the 13/2 favourite (Coral). This backs up our earlier tip of both teams to score and also backs up the fact that the bookmakers expect this match to be a very tight affair.

Manchester City v Chelsea Betting Offers

Bet365 - Place a bet on the correct score, half-time/full-time or socrecast market and if the match finishes 0-0, Bet365 will refund all losing bets on these markets.
Betfred - Place a bet on a goalscorer and if your players scores the first goal and then goes on to score another, Betfred will double your first scorer price. If the player then goes on to score a hat-trick, Betfred will treble the price.
Paddy Power - If David Silva, Fernando Torres or Juan Mata score the last goal in tonight's match, Paddy Power will refund all losing first/last goalscorer, correct score and scorecast singles on the match.
Ladbrokes - If Didier Drogba score at anytime against Manchester City, Ladbrokes will refund all losing first goalscorer bets.
Coral - If Fernando Torres score the last goal of the match, Coral will refund all losing first/last goalscoer, correct score and scorecasts bets on the match

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