Here are your betting guide and tips for Chelsea’s Premier League matchup with Brentford. Courtesy of Mike Malley.
Well, my friends, the rest of this Chelsea season is probably going to be meaningless. The Blues were thoroughly dismantled by Real Madrid over two legs in the UCL quarter-final by an aggregate scoreline of 0-4, which feels appropriate considering the visible difference in quality between the two sides. And while Los Galacticos’ experience in European competition certainly helped the players persevere through the few difficult moments they had over the 180’ of football, the biggest gap in talent was on the touchline.
Frank Lampard gave his squad absolutely zero chance of advancing in the tournament. Judging by his starting XI for the second leg, the CFC gaffer seemed to have thought that his team was winning the tie and needed to hold onto a slim lead. Managerial inadequacies have plagued the Pride of London since the end of Thomas Tuchel’s reign earlier this season, but Todd Boehly has made matters worse by lowering the standard with each subsequent decision. Until this team can find a competent leader in terms of tactics and man-management, I worry we won’t see any improvement.
I said earlier that the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign will probably be meaningless for the club from Fulham Road, but that could change very quickly with a few more Premier League defeats. A relegation battle is something I thought the Blues would never be involved in, but they’re at real risk of being dragged into one if they can’t collect at least five or six more points over their next three matches. And considering all but two of Chelsea’s remaining opponents are in the top half of the table, I’m not particularly confident that’s going to happen.
Fortunately, the team’s next opponent, Brentford, is somehow in a period of worse form right now. The Bees haven’t won since the middle of March and have only picked up three points in their past six contests. If Lampard and his squad can’t secure the victory at home against one of the worst-performing sides in the EPL, they’ll be at serious risk of facing the drop for the first time I can remember. Hopefully, I’ll be able to bet on their matches in The Championship next year!
Despite CFC having its worst season in my lifetime, I’ve done reasonably well on the betting guides. The record has gone over .500 after some solid performances over the past few matches, so I’m hoping to keep my hot streak going against Brentford. One bet I’ve been eyeing for the capital clash is under 2.5 total goals scored at -118 odds.
As I previously mentioned, these are two of the worst teams in the EPL on form. They’ve accumulated three points total over their past 10 combined games, a horrendous total by any measure, but especially so for clubs that are supposed to be challenging for spots in the top half of the table at the very least. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a 0-0 draw in the contest, but taking the under at this value feels safer than going for an exact score prop. For anyone feeling bold, though, that prop is currently running at +1000 odds.
I’ve got some serious research supporting the second bet I like against the Bees. If one under wasn’t lethargic enough for you, I’ve got a second! This one is a lot less likely, according to the oddsmakers, but I think it could cash pretty easily. I like under 0.5 first-half goals at +192 a lot. The Blues have only scored in the opening interval in one of their previous five outings, while Brentford has done it in two of their last five. These numbers obviously point to a trend of slow starts for both of these sides, so I’m backing it to continue midweek.
Official odds (via FanDuel as of April 24)
Chelsea ML: -145
Brentford ML: +400
Draw: +280
Over/Under: 2.5 (-102/-118)
My Chelsea picks:
There’s a pretty obvious theme for the plays that I like for Wednesday. It’s boredom. Give me the aforementioned under 2.5 total goals at -118 odds and under 0.5 first-half goals at +192. For my final pick, I’ll take a different prop that I used to bet fairly frequently; yes or no on both teams to score. In this instance, in case you couldn’t guess, I like the no option at -112. I’m just not anticipating any entertainment value in this match, so I’ll at least make some money for my troubles. Cue the Denzel Washington meme; I’m leaving here with something.