Chelsea v Wigan: Benitez to buy some time with Wigan win
Published:If Rafa Benitez wants to keep the Chelsea job beyond this season then he can’t afford to lose many more games between now and May, if any. If he wants to keep it beyond this weekend then he can’t afford to lose against Wigan.
The Blues are a lofty 2/7 to win at home, despite their newly-discovered penchant for squandering leads against inferior teams and the fact that they haven’t won a game since beating Arsenal 2-1 in mid-January.
Still, the Latics’ inability to get results means both their gigantic 8/1 for victory, as well as the 9/2 for the draw should be left alone, as Rafa is set for some respite at the Bridge.
The 15 Premier League meetings contested between the two also hints that Benitez will silence the boo-boys (the most easily-pleased among them, at least). As would be expected, Chelsea have claimed the spoils in 12 of these clashes, losing just one, though in the search for some good value, punters will have to look beyond the match betting market.
A good place to start would be backing Wigan to score a goal at the Bridge.
They’ve done this in three of their previous five visits and the Blues haven’t kept a clean sheet at home since beating Aston Villa 8-0 just before Christmas. Roberto Martinez’ men are available at 4/6 to score more than 0.5 goals which must tempt a few bets.
This is more of a kneejerk selection than anything else, but for those who fancy the Stamford Bridge faithful to be calling for Rafa’s head after seeing their side blow yet another lead can be paid out at 9/1 if they back the visitors to come from behind to draw, or a massive 20/1 for those who think the Lancashire club can overturn a deficit and win in west London.
All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date
