Chelsea odds cut after brilliant win at City

SPORTS BETTING: IS Jose Mourinho playing mind games, or does he really believe Chelsea are the outsiders in the three-way Premier League title race?

Perhaps there is an element of both, but the bookies don’t see the Blues as third-favourites and make them just 21-10 to finish on top.

Chelsea were thoroughly deserving of their 1-0 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Monday. They were up for the battle, superbly organised and – led by the brilliant Eden Hazard – just as skilful as their much-lauded opponents.

So just over 2-1 is not a bad price if, like me, you can’t see Arsenal lasting the pace given their lack of cover up front and serious injury to Theo Walcott.

Despite leading the way, Arsenal can still be backed at 9-2, but it’s City the odds-layers fear most, and they can be supported at even money, having been 4-6 before Monday’s game.

The last-minute withdrawal of Fernandino clearly affected City’s midfield and the Citizens will be hoping to have him back soon rather than later.

The same is true of goal machine Sergio Aguero and midfielder Samir Nasri, who had been enjoying an excellent season before picking up a leg injury.

Without these three, City look slightly less formidable, so perhaps others will take Chelsea’s lead and have a go at them rather than sit back and accept the inevitable avalanche of goals.



MANCHESTER United’s defeat at Stoke on Saturday has seen the Reds pushed out to 7-2 to finish in the top four and clinch a place in next season’s Champions League.

City, Chelsea and Arsenal are virtually unbackable in that market, while Liverpool are the bookies’ fancy to grab the fourth spot. They are 4-6 favourites to do so, with Tottenham the same price as United and Everton 13-2.



AT the other end of the table, there looks sure to be a bitter struggle for survival. Fulham are 1-2 favourites to go down, then it’s 23-20 Crystal Palace, 6-4 Cardiff, 2-1 Norwich, 13-5 West Ham, 100-30 Sunderland and 9-2 Hull City.

But, despite their decent display in holding Liverpool to a 1-1 draw on Sunday, I fear for West Brom and think 9-2 about them going down is a very fair price.

New boss Pepe Mel has no experience of the Premier League - let alone a relegation dogfight. Rival managers Pulis, Allardyce and Bruce will possess valuable survival knowhow.



RECOMMENDATION: West Brom to be relegated from Premier League, 9-2 (Stan James, Coral)