CAN Chelsea’s season get any worse? They face a crucial match against Porto on Wednesday with Champions League elimination a possibility. Chris Graham(@chrisgraham79) looks at the odds.
Chelsea v FC Porto | Wednesday 19:45 | BT Sport 2
It’s been a disastrous season for Chelsea beyond anyone’s comprehension and on Wednesday the crisis notch could get turned up further if they get knocked out of the Champions League.
A possibility? Most definitely. The Blues lie level with Porto on 10 points at the top of their group but know a draw will see them through. A defeat will knock them out though.
A massive shadow hanging over this fixture is Dynamo Kiev. They’re at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv and are long odds on to beat the poor Israeli side.
A win would put them on 11 points and mean that if Chelsea and Porto draw all three will be pitted together on 11 points. To decide the two qualifiers then means taking all results involving the three sides against each other into account and due to Kiev’s 2-0 win in Oporto two weeks ago they’ll finish top and the Portuguese side bottom of the three team section.
So it’s a fascinating round of conundrums and what if’s as Matchday 6 kicks off in this group. The onus in this particular fixture has to be on Porto. They surely must factor in that Kiev will win against Maccabi and with that in mind need to attack this fixture.
While Chelsea are having a nightmare in the Premier League, Porto are unbeaten in the Liga Sagres with nine wins from their 12 games. They lie second behind Sporting Lisbon.
Gut feel in this match is that I can’t contemplate backing Chelsea at 6/5. How can you? They’re going through their worst run of form this century with five defeats in their last nine matches.
While pundits spoke of a revival after they lost just one game in five, that was destroyed on Saturday when they limped to a 1-0 home defeat to lowly Bournemouth. A shocking result!
Porto are a much better side than Bournemouth and have beaten Bayern Munich and indeed Chelsea this calendar year. True, those games were at home and their away form hardly inspires at the moment.
Porto on their travels in the last two seasons in the Champions League have won only three of their seven away games. Those victories came against Maccabi Tel Aviv, BATE Borisov and Athletic Bilbao. Hardly top class opponents.
At 14/5 though Julen Lopetegui’s side are a decent price and can be a real concern for Chelsea in their awful situation. Bar that slip up at home to Kiev they would have been home and hosed in this group and their excellent performances in the competition last season bode well here.
At 7/4 with Skybet I’m keen to back them Draw No Bet here. They offer the value make no mistake of that. Jose Mourinho should be quaking in his boots, the team that made him could also break him.
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Chelsea v Porto – Porto Draw No Bet (7/4 Skybet)
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TOPICS Champions League Tips English Football Tips European Football Football Premier League Tips
