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Hull v Chelsea
By Simon Hopper
Last updated: 09:35 Tuesday, February 2, 2010
**BEST BET – CHELSEA -1 HANDICAP @ 5/6**
Despite the allegations surrounding John Terry’s private life at present, it is hard to imagine Chelsea dropping points at Hull City on Tuesday night.
The Blues did not look distracted from their task at Burnley on Saturday and it was Terry himself who scored his side’s winner with a powerful header to cap a typically professional performance from the skipper. That marked Chelsea’s 4th consecutive league win and with Didier Drogba set to play again following African Nations Cup duty, the omens are not good for Phil Brown’s side.
Hull’s home record against big four clubs since their promotion is played 5, lost 5 and the Tigers are without a league win since beating Everton here on November 25th, 9 games ago. The only clubs in the current top 4 to have visited this season, Spurs and Man United, have both won comfortably (1-5 & 1-3) while there was more shambolic defending on show during the 2-2 draw with Wolves last weekend.
The match odds on Chelsea (around 2/7) show the bookies don’t see anything other than a routine 3 points for the league leaders and there is no evidence to disagree with their assessment. A better option, however, could lie with backing the Blues with a 1 goal deficit on the handicap at 5/6. It is worth noting that 9 of Hull’s last 10 Premier League defeats have been by at least 2 goals, while 11 of Chelsea’s last 16 league wins have also been by 2 goals or more. With Drogba returning and United cutting their lead at the top to just 1 point, expect a focused and professional Chelsea performance at the KC Stadium.
The stats also suggest there'll be goals between these two...
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14 of Hull's 23 (60%) games have gone Over 2.5 Goals
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18 of Chelsea's 23 (78%) games have gone Over 2.5 Goals
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63% (7/11) of Hull's home games have gone Over 2.5 Goals
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72% (8/11) of Chelsea's away games have gone Over 2.5 Goals
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