Chelsea v Man United FA Cup Prediction 1st April 2013

Chelsea v Man United FA Cup Betting Preview
After Chelsea produced a fantastic second half comeback at Old Trafford to rescue a draw after looking down and out, the replay has been squeezed in right after a busy Premier League weekend. Both had matches on Saturday and this game may be affected by fixture congestion. It was a cliched tale of two halves in the first meeting, and while Chelsea are a great FA Cup side, they have struggled in the competition against the Red Devils.

Chelsea v Man United Betting Odds at online bookmaker Paddy Power
Chelsea 6/4, Man United 7/4, Draw 5/2

Chelsea v Man United Recommended Bet:
If this game turns out to be anything like the second half of the first attempt at Old Trafford then it should be a great one. It has the makings of being great, because the sides may be a little tired after playing on Saturday in the Premier League, so chances could come by the plenty. The two sides have produced a lot of goals in recent meetings, with 34 goals scored in the last seven meetings in all competitions. They have already met three times this season and produced eighteen goals between them. So to the game. Do Chelsea have ascendancy after clawing their way back into the original tie after looking down and out? They really could have won in the end if Juan Mata had converted at the death. The Spaniard has scored five and assisted eight in 11 FA Cup matches for Chelsea. He will have a big influence on Monday.

Chelsea are on a tremendously long unbeaten run in the FA Cup, not losing any of their last 28 games in the competition (excluding shoot outs). At Stamford Bridge, the Blues haven’t lost an FA Cup tie since back in March 2003, producing a W20 D4 record in hat run. However, they have lost their last two at home United in the competition. Chelsea have only won two FA Cup ties against United before, taking a victory the last time that they met, back in the 2007 final. The only previous time that they met in the Sixth Round, it produced their only previous draw, and that was at Old Trafford with the Red Devils winning the replay back at the Bridge. United are slight underdogs here, as Chelsea are a fantastic FA Cup side. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men though have scored in each of their last 10 away games in the FA Cup, in nine of those matches, they scored more than once.

They have the threats of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, but Javier Hernandez has netted in six of the last seven meetings against Chelsea. United have a strong 8-2 head to head lead over Chelsea in the FA Cup, and have won the last two meetings at Stamford Bridge. Incidentally, United were the last team to stop Chelsea scoring at home in the FA Cup, and that was the 1999 Sixth Round replay mentioned above. United arguably have the stronger firepower and more match winners in their ranks to call upon. The visitors don’t have any other distractions really, whereas Chelsea have to go and play in the Europa League on Thursday night as well.

The form of the Red Devils this season is good enough to warrant backing them outright at value of 7/4 with online bookmaker Paddy Power.

Stat Attack

United lead the FA Cup head to head with Chelsea 8-2
Chelsea are unbeaten in 28 FA Cup games (excluding penalty shootouts)
Javier Hernandez has scored in six of the last seven games against Chelsea
United have won the last two FA Cup ties at Stamford Bridge

Online bookmaker Promotion
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