The FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Man City at Wembley takes centre stage today (4pm KO, Live on ITV1) and it’s Roberto Mancini’s men who are taken to come out on top at odds of 13/10 with Paddy Power and Stan James.
Their opponents have a superb record in the competition, but their recent head-to-head record against the Citizens is poor.
The London side have won only two of their last nine meetings with City in all competitions, losing six and drawing the other.
That suggests they will not be fazed in any way about taking on Rafa Benitez’s men despite the fact that they are unbeaten in their last 29 FA Cup ties – winning 23 and drawing six.
The key player in a City success is likely to be Carlos Tevez. The Argentine has scored five goals in four FA Cup ties this season, including a hat-trick against Barnsley.
He also boasts a good goalscoring record against Chelsea having netted eight times in 10 games against the Blues.
That makes him look the player to concentrate on in the goalscorer markets and he can be backed at a top priced 6/1 with bet365 and Hills to net the opener and a tasty looking best of 15/8 in the anytime scorer market with Stan James which looks cracking value given that he is as short as 5/4 elsewhere.
In the correct score market I like the look of a 2-1 win for City, and that is a top priced 10/1 with Hills.
