FA Cup betting – Everton vs Chelsea

Everton vs Chelsea betting preview

Everton     Form: WDLWDD     Position: 14th

Just one defeat in their last 9 league and cup games, has moved Everton up to 14th in the league and eased their relegation fears. While an easy 5-1 away victory at Scunthorpe in the last round helped the Toffees through to a tricky home tie against current holders Chelsea. Tim Cahill’s absence at the Asia Cup has forced David Moyes to push two strikers up front instead of his favoured 4-1-1, and Everton have definitely seen the benefits from a more attacking approach. Since the start of January, they’ve scored 6 goals in their last 3 league games and 5 against Scunthorpe in the FA Cup. Seamus Coleman has had a good season so far and scored 5 goals in all competitions, and the defender is a great price at 8/1 with Bet365 to score at any time. Tim Cahill will still miss the tie due to international duty but Everton have no other injury concerns or suspensions.

Chelsea     Form: LWDLWW     Position: 4th

It appears Chelsea have finally recovered from their slump in form, winning their last 3 games and scoring an impressive 13 goals without reply. It is also the first time they have won 3 in a row since their poor run began back in October. However their away record is certainly still worrying, before the win at Bolton, Chelsea had gone 6 away league games without a win. Manager Carlo Ancelotti may field a strong side in hope of winning the competition, after seeing his title defence falter somewhat over the last couple of months. Nicholas Anelka is the Blues top scorer this season with 13 goals in all competitions, and the Frenchman is a good bet at 6/1 with Bwin to open the scoring. Frank Lampard is a doubt for the lunchtime kick off and Yuri Zhirkov and Alex are still out.

Match Prediction Chelsea Win best priced at 11/10 with Betfred – Free £50 bet

Chelsea should go into this tie high on confidence after a good win last time out, but their away form has not been great in recent months. Equally, Everton’s home form has also been poor this season, winning just 3 of 11 games. The Toffees are also the draw specialists of the Premier League with 12 drawn matches from 23. With this in mind a 1-1 draw would not be surprising and the result is showing good odds of 6-1 at Skybet.

Highlighted Bets

S Coleman anytime goal scorer – 8/1 Bet365
1-1 Correct score – 6/1 Skybet
N Anelka first goal scorer – 6/1 VC Bet

By Sam Markham

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