Blues to punish Spurs’ blunder
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Chelsea can go seven clear
Beat Middlesbrough on Monday night at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea will go seven points clear of rivals Tottenham, who lost to West Ham on Friday. The title is now in The Blues’ hands, it’s theirs to throw away, and there’s not many expecting them to slip-up.
Monday night football has an extra special feel to it this week as Chelsea roll out the red carpet, live on Sky Sports from 8.00pm. A home win will not only edge fans towards a historic crown, it will also push Middlesbrough down to the Championship.
Click here to place your bets on a number of markets, including match winner, first goal scorer and total goals, as well as the Premier League outright winner and relegation. We’ve got you covered.
Title is in Chelsea’s hands
Runaway league leaders for so long this season, Chelsea hit the skids when losing twice in four games to open the door for a late surge from Tottenham. A 2-1 reverse to Crystal Palace at this venue was followed by defeat to Jose Mourinho’s Man Utd at Old Trafford last month.
Conte and co have since steadied the ship, and in some style too, knocking Spurs out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage to keep their hopes of a double alive, while beating Southampton and Everton in the league, with plenty to spare. Both wins came by a two-or-more goal margin, and taking the favourites -1 on the handicap with Coral will earn you 1/2. Not a bad offer, with the match win trading 1/7.
Diego Costa netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over The Smoggies at the Riverside back in November, bulging the net just before half-time to part the sides. The striker hasn’t quite lived up to the hype for large parts of 2017, since declaring his interest in leaving the club, but he did bag a brace when last out at the bridge vs Southampton. Costa is 5/2 favourite to score the first goal of the game on Monday, while two or more gives backers something to work with, at our 13/8 treat.
Stats back locals to nil
The form of Chelsea is more than enough to convince punters that the home team are worth siding with, but those seeking a bit more confidence need only look at the recent results of Middlesbrough. The side staring relegation in the eye have managed just one win in their last 10 league starts, and with that spare coming against bottom of the league Sunderland, it’s not worth getting terribly excited about.
Boro haven’t beaten Chelsea since 2006, and have lost each of the seven meetings since, all without scoring a goal. Followers of the form will find that stat almost impossible to ignore, making Chelsea to nil at 8/11 the evening’s best bet.
