The highlight of Sunday's Premier League action comes from Stamford Bridge as Chelsea welcome Manchester City. We have two best bets.
Football betting tips: Chelsea v Manchester City
1pt N'Golo Kante 4+ Tackles at 21/10
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Chelsea v Manchester City
- 1630 GMT kick-off on Sky Sports Premier League
- Match Odds: Home 2/1 | Draw 5/2 | Away 5/4
Frank Lampard is the latest Premier League manager in the firing line. Chelsea’s slump - the Blues have won just twice in seven (W2-D2-L3) Premier League games since mid-November – has seen the former England ace parachuted into joint-favouritism in the Next Manager To Go market, alongside Chris Wilder.
Harsh or not, the league shows that Chelsea are closer to 15th than league leaders Liverpool as we head towards the midway point. With Roman Abramovich having sanctioned a spending spree of more than £100m in the summer on a glut of world class operators, the trigger-happy billionaire owner would probably have expected more from his side thus far.
Lampard’s decision to criticise his players so publicly post-Arsenal wasn’t well received and Chelsea followed up that shock reverse at The Emirates with a bang-average effort at home to Aston Villa. Chastised for their apparent lack of effort, drive and direction against the Gunners, the Blues appeared worryingly short of inspiration and invention on Monday night.
Chelsea’ 26 points tally at this stage of the season is their second-worst in the Abramovich era and Lampard’s overall average of 1.70 points per-game in charge of the Blues is the worst return since Ruud Gullit (1.65) was in the hot-seat over 20 years ago. It’s an unpleasant picture, even if the underlying performance data isn’t quite so unedifying.
Lampard’s task doesn’t get any easier this weekend when Manchester City arrive at Stamford Bridge for Super Sunday’s highlight showdown. The Citizens, in the midst of their own funk this season, have been gradually moving through the gears since losing to Spurs. In fact, that was City’s only reverse across all competitions since September (W13-D6-L1).
Of course, Pep Guardiola’s posse aren’t close to being at their best but improvements have been made to the team’s foundations. Just eight goals have been conceded in over 30 hours of football, eight shutouts have been achieved in City’s most recent 10 tussles and no Premier League team is conceding fewer Expected Goals (xG) from open play.
The guests head to Stamford Bridge rested and refreshed following the postponement of Monday’s match, with Gabriel Jesus and Kyle Walker the only obvious absentees after positive COVID tests. With Sergio Aguero returning to fitness, the Citizens won’t be a million miles away from full-strength as they set about clawing their way back into the title race.
However, I’m not anticipating a thrill-a-minute affair in West London. Man City’s new found resilience has coincided with a bout of low-scoring showdowns, as fewer than three goals have been delivered in nine of the visitors’ past 12 across all competitions, whilst in the Premier League alone, a massive 11 of 12 have fallen below the Under 2.5 Goals threshold.
Low-scoring matches have been a feature of City’s trips to the league’s elite in recent years. Going back to the beginning of 2018/19, Guardiola’s group have seen 10 of 12 away days at top-six finishes produce Under 2.5 Goals as Both Teams To Score banked just twice. Meanwhile, nine of 13 all-Big Six games this term have also copped for Unders backers.
So I’ll happily take Under 2.5 Goals at odds-against quotes (5/4 Red Zone) as well as a small interest in tireless midfield schemer N'Golo Kante to make 4+ tackles at 21/10 (SkyBet). The humble World Cup winner hit five in Chelsea’s most recent outing against Aston Villa and has already completed four tackles in four separate Premier League encounters.
Kante has hit 3+ tackles in 11 of his 16 league appearances with games against the division’s leading lights often delivering his highest tackle counts. Against the Premier League’s most possession-heavy outfit, the Frenchman is bound to be busy and the 29-year-old has provided profit from this punt in two of his past three match-ups with Man City.
Score prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City (Sky Bet odds: 6/1)
Chelsea v Manchester City best bets
Odds correct at 1000 GMT (01/01/21)
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