Is there less pressure on Manchester City now they are playing catch-up or does that just mean they will be feeling the heat more than ever in the Premier League title race? We could be about to find out when they host Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
Manchester United have the easier run-in so it is hard to see how City can afford to slip-up. Roberto Mancini’s men are more reliant than ever on their imperious 100 per cent home record and can be backed at 5/6 (1.83) to close the gap on the champions.
To do that they will need to beat a rejuvenated Chelsea side. Four wins out of four under Roberto Di Matteo suggest the Stamford Bridge outfit are back on track.
More worryingly for City, the 4-1 victory over Napoli indicated that Chelsea’s big-hitters can still raise their game on the biggest occasions. Chelsea are 16/5 (4.2) with Sportingbet to win the game and 5/2 (3.5) to put a dent in City’s perfect home record by taking a share of the points.
In the goalscorers market, Sergio Aguero is understandably the favourite to open the scoring. The Argentine forward already has 23 goals for the season and is 4/1 (5.0) to add to that tally with the first of the night here.
For Chelsea, Fernando Torres was finally back among the goals with a double against Leicester at the weekend. Torres may not start here but he could be worth a look in the anytime goalscorer market at 3/1 (4.0) with Sportingbet.
In the other markets, it is important to remember that City remain formidable opponents at home in the Premier League despite their wobbles in the cup competitions.
Aside from a crazy spell against Tottenham when the two sides shared four goals in 10 minutes, you have to go back to Steve Morison’s late consolation for Norwich in the first week of December to find a Premier League goal scored by the away side at the Etihad Stadium.
With that in mind, the Bet of the Day is to go with ‘one team only to score’ at 6/5 (2.2) with Sportingbet. For the Value Bet, back Aguero to fire home the opener.
Bet of the Day
| BET |
OF THE |
DAY |
| BEST BET |
VALUE BET |
| One team only to score at 6/5 (2.2) with Sportingbet |
Sergio Aguero to score first at 4/1 (5.0) with Sportingbet |
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Adam Bate is a professional freelance journalist who specialises in football and betting. He is editor of GhostGoal which can be found here - you can also follow Adam on Twitter