Chelsea and Manchester United meet on Monday night in the pick of the FA Cupfifth round matches as both sides look for domestic silverware.
Maurizio Sarri’s men are 21/20 (2.05) favourites to reach the quarter-finals in 90 minutes, whilst the Red Devils can be backed at 14/5 (3.80) to exact revenge after losing to the Blues in last season’s final.
That match at Wembley finished 1-0 and using bet365’s Bet Builder feature, we have come up with a 5/1 (6.0) shot that anticipates a similarly tight game.
The Bet Builder allows bettors to combine multiple markets from the same match into one bet, and the 5/1 (6.0) play consists of: Under 2.5 goals; Over one card for Manchester United; Over nine corners for both teams combined and both teams to score – ‘no’.
Although both teams have been leaking goals for fun this season, this fixture is typically tight. Nine of the last 11 meetings have seen two goals or fewer, and four of the last five in the FA Cup have finished 1-0 to Chelsea.
Three of United’s six away games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have featured under 2.5 goals, whilst the Blues have conceded just twice in their last six games at Stamford Bridge.
Similarly, at least one team has kept a clean sheet in 10 of Chelsea’s last 12 home games and the same is true in four of the Red Devils’ previous six away from Old Trafford.
Factor in that both teams have scored in only five of the last 15 meetings between this pair, dating back to April 2013, and it looks like goals may be at a premium again this time around.
It is almost a guarantee that any clash between two rivals will be a fiery affair and cards look on the agenda here, with United having one of the worst disciplinary records in the Premier League.
Their players have been booked 32 times away from home this season – the second-most in the league – and not since April 2015 have they had under two bookings in a match against Chelsea.
As well, Monday’s referee Kevin Friend has handed out six yellow cards to United players in three matches this season, and on average this campaign, he cautions 1.85 away players per fixture.
Neither team has struggled for corners this term, each averaging 5.46 per game in the league, and so this 5/1 (6.0) shot using bet365’s Bet Builder looks a solid value play ahead of this fixture.
