IT'S coronation time at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea look to clinch the title against Crystal Palace. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) takes a look at the odds.
Chelsea v Crystal Palace | Sunday 13:30 | Sky Sports 1
Floyd Mayweather was crowned champion again earlier on Sunday, and the team he's been compared to should also receive their coronation on the same day.
A grinding 3-1 win over Leicester on Wednesday night has put them in this title-winning position and with the prize so close now you just feel the Blues might just let off some steam.
Wednesday's win was their first league triumph by over one goal since the middle of January and they know the pressure is off now. The tactical game has been won, the title is theirs, now seems the ideal time to turn on the style.
I was really sweet on Crystal Palace last week against Hull but they let me down. To be fair, Hull have certainly raised their levels in the last couple of games as the prospect of relegation became very real. They followed up the win over Palace last week by beating Liverpool on Tuesday and have given themselves every chance of staying up.
Their record since Alan Pardew took over on the second day of the year has been excellent. P14 W8 D1 L5 has been their league form figures and wins against Manchester City and Tottenham have been the highlights.
This for me though is a big step up. The Tottenham win was on the back of their opponents pulling off a stunning New Years Day win over Chelsea and Man City have looked a pale shadow of their former selves.
And then we come to Chelsea's home form this season. Unbeaten in the league, boasting figures of P16 W13 D3 L0. They've only conceded seven goals at the Bridge all league campaign!
With the pressure off, a strong desire to please and the level of their opponent, it's inconceivable to me that Jose Mourinho's side won't win here. Odds of 4/11 are fair, but clearly we need to find other betting angles.
The Chelsea Win To Nil bet has paid out in 10 of their 16 home league games but it's risky at 21/20 with this Pardew side not having scored in two games (he'll be eager for some sort of response to that).
The key to profit here might just be to assume Chelsea let go of their reservations, get stuck in here and enjoy the title party. They hinted at that on Wednesday night and it can come to fruition here.
Exactly 3-4 Goals at 29/20 makes a lot of sense with this in mind, we could see Chelsea scoring three for sure and Palace might nick one too. Similarly Chelsea Over 2.5 Goals looks value at 6/4.
But sometimes you've just got to keep it simple in life, and at odds against I'm more than happy to get stuck into Chelsea -1. It's paid out in eight of their 16 Bridge league games but in none of their last six, so we're clearly going against the stats.
The whole point of my argument though is that Chelsea can return to that free-wheeling stylish dominant ouevre on Sunday. The pressure is off, let the fun begin and the goals should rain in. Chelsea -1 is 19/20, but you can back Chelsea -1.5 at a bigger price of 68/67 on BetVictor's Asian Handicap market. It's exactly the same bet!
Best Bets
Chelsea v Crystal Palace – Chelsea -1.5 Asian Handicap (68/67 BetVictor)
4/1 Chelsea/Man City Double
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