Chelsea v Man City Betting Odds

Chelsea will look to put themselves right back in the mix for the title when they play host to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Monday.

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas  has come out fighting following the Blues 3-0 win over Valencia in mid-week that put them through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, with the former Porto man taking on all comers, in particular the media, as he looks to put his side’s poor run of form behind them.

Back to back 3-0 wins over Wolves and Newcastle in the Premier League have helped put to bed a run of form that saw Chelsea lose twice to Liverpool in ten days and a defeat to Bayer Leverkusen that had looked to have put their European adventure to an end.

Now with a handful of decent wins under their belt Chelsea will look to rubber stamp their title credentials with a win over a Manchester City side that have appeared unstoppable on the domestic front this season.

The only side unbeaten in the Premier League, Roberto Mancini’s men were at ttheir swaggering best in their last league outing against Norwich, putting 5 past Paul Lambert’s men and appearing very much like Champions elect.

However City haven’t had it all their own way this season, and despite winning their last Champions League outing against Bayern Munich were dumped out of European football’s premier completion thanks to defeat against group rivals Napoli last month.

That means the Citizens now drop down into the Europa League and will have to contend with an awkward playing schedule with potentially long trips to the far corners of Europe on Thursdays with Premier League fixtures on a Sunday.

Mancini will be keen to avoid his side’s league campaign trailing off thanks to their involvement in the Europa League and will look for a strong performance from his side to demonstrate their strength going into the busy Christmas schedule.

Frank Lampard was left out of the win over Valencia, but will complete his 350^th Premier League start if selected against City, while one man who won’t be on the pitch is David Luiz who is suspended.

Didier Drogba should start given his recent good form, while Jose Bosingwa has recovered from a knock and is available for selection.

For City, Micah Richards appears destined to miss out as he continues to struggle with a calf injury. Pablo Zabaleta is fit, but Aleksander Kolarov is unfit.

Match Winner

In what should be a tight game, it comes as something of a surprise that Chelsea are the favourites given the relative form of both sides.

Home advantage should play into the hands of the Blues but recent back to back losses at the Bridge mean it is a risky game backing them for the win.

Chelsea are placed at 2.50 (6/4) with SkyBet while City are 2.80 (9/5) with Bet365. The Draw is 3.40 (12/5) with VC Bet.

First Goalscorer

With such a wide array of attacking talent on display the first goalscorer market is an interesting one, and the recent form of Didier Drogba has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons.

The Ivorian still trails behind some of City’s big-hitters, but is certainly worth a look at 9.00 (8/1) with StanJames.

Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko lead the market at 8.00 (7/1) and 8.50 (15/2) respectively with @ VC Bet, while the ever entertaining Mario Balotelli is also generously priced at 9.00 (8/1) with StanJames.

Recommended Bets

First Goalscorer: Mario Balotelli, 9.00 (8/1) StanJames

Correct score: 1-1 draw, 7.00 (6/1) BlueSQ

Don’t forget that Bet365 have a great free in-play betting offer on the match. See their site for more details.