Chelsea seem unfazed from matters concerning the club off-the-pitch judging by recent form and now they will look to continue that as they travel to Riverside to face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.
The Blues are the favourites at 8/15 with Betfred while Boro is 6/1 and a draw is 10/3 for their FA Cup clash while the bookies have priced the eight-time winners at 1/4 to go through while the hosts at 11/4.
The ownership and the financial stability of the club is in the balance short-term but Thomas Tuchel continues to focus on the matches in front of them. They are still in the Champions League and the FA Cup is their only chance of lifting a domestic trophy this season after slipping up in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
But Chelsea will be wary of the threat Boro have in the FA Cup after picking up wins against Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur making Chris Wilder's just one of two Championship sides remaining in the competition.
The statement to request this match to be played behind closed doors would have fuelled enough motivation for Boro to upset the European champions so this will be a much harder match than before.
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Tips
- Chelsea to win and both team to score - 11/5
- Middlesbrough half-time result - 9/2
- Kai Havertz to score anytime - 23/20
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Team stats
- Both teams in matches involving Chelsea have scored in 20 matches from 45 in all competitions while for Boro it is 21 from 41 matches - both teams to score is 10/11
- Chelsea have finished with three or more total goals in 21 matches in all competitions while for Boro it is 17 - over 2.5 goals is 4/5
Player to watch
Kai Havertz has suddenly become a goalscoring machine recently with four league goals in his last three Premier League apperances. The German playmaker has been tipped in the last two league outings and I do not see why he should not be tipped to score in his fourth consecutive league game.
H2H
This will be the 116th meeting between the two sides in all competitions with Chelsea picking up 55 wins, 29 draws and 31 losses against Boro. In the FA Cup, this will be only the fifth meeting in the competition between the two clubs with Chelsea picking up three wins and just one defeat - which happened in their first FA Cup meeting in January 1993.
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