Barnsley v Chelsea free betting tips: Best bets and FA Cup preview
Football betting tips: FA Cup
1pt Hakim Ziyech to score from outside the area at 13/2
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Barnsley v Chelsea
- 20:00 GMT on BBC One
- Match odds: Home 9/1 | Draw 17/4 | Away 3/10
Chelsea comfortably beat Barnsley 6-0 when these two met at Stamford Bridge in the Carabao Cup earlier this season, but for most, this fixture being played at Oakwell will remind them of Kayode Odejayi's winner in this competition back in 2008.
It was a classic cup upset. The underdog managing to get past a star-studded top-flight opponent and Barnsley will be hoping for a repeat in 2021. It will be a very difficult task, and the hosts being a huge 9/1 for victory in 90 minutes shows the difference between these two sides.
Barnsley are comfortably in mid-table in the Sky Bet Championship but have earned plaudits for their style of play. A desire to win the ball and attack has led some to believe that they are a team worth monitoring next season. Led by Valerien Ismael, they will approach this game with a 'nothing to lose' attitude - as they should.
The FA Cup does present Thomas Tuchel with a realistic chance of silverware in his first season at Chelsea though and they will fancy their chances. Home ties against Morecambe and Luton have given the Blues a nice path until the stage and they could have come up against much worse at this point.
It sounds like he will be taking the competition seriously and, even with a couple of changes, Chelsea's quality in attack will always give them a strong chance of winning games. Tuchel's press conference revealed that N'Golo Kante will feature in midfield, while there's a strong chance that Hakim Ziyech will also be given a start.
"Hopefully tomorrow we see the best of him," The Chelsea boss told the media. "Tomorrow we hope he shows the same quality and determination in training."
It is a big chance for Ziyech. It seems the prediction that he would be the one to suffer because of this top-heavy Chelsea's squad is starting to come true. Despite arguably being the Blues' most creative player, there are just too many options in that area.
Tuchel's words also suggest he isn't completely convinced by him yet. He started against Wolves but remained an unused substitute in wins over Sheffield United and Tottenham. Thursday night presents him with a chance to force himself back into the head coach's plans.
The one thing that does stand out about Ziyech is the high number of shots he takes per game. We knew this from his days at Ajax, but his last two starts have seen a combined eight total shots. All eight of those came from outside of the area.
A game against lower opposition presents the opportunity for Ziyech to grab a goal, and as Chelsea have shown across the past couple of seasons, they take the chance to find the net when playing teams from the Sky Bet EFL.
Considering the large number of shots that come from outside the area, with the Infogol shot map above highlighting how he has a preference to shoot from one particular part of the pitch, it's worth taking the bigger odds available on a strike from distance. Some bookmakers are as short as 13/8 on a goal anytime, but Sky Bet have 13/2 on Ziyech scoring from outside the penalty area which is where the best bet can be found.
As much as we all love a cup upset, Chelsea have been ruthless in recent meetings against teams from other divisions and that should continue in South Yorkshire on Thursday. Barnsley may well surprise a changed side with a goal themselves, but it's going to be difficult to prevent this Blues team from scoring a few.
Score prediction: Barnsley 1-3 Chelsea (Sky Bet odds: 10/1)
Barnsley v Chelsea best bets
Odds correct at 1720 GMT (10/02/21)
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