On paper, the 4-1 win for the Blues was a stroll in the park. In reality it was an intense affair with Tottenham taking a sixth-minute lead through♦before a second goal from Heung-Min Son was ruled out by the tightest of offside margins.
Spurs then had Cristian Romero sent off after conceding a penalty which was converted by Cole Palmer before losing James Maddison and Micky van de Ven to long-term injuries and Destiny Udogie to another red card.
Nicolas Jackson finally put Chelsea ahead in the 75th minute and then completed his hat-trick in time added on but the final score could have been vastly different if Spurs had been able to equalise through one of the numerous late chances their nine men created.
The Blues have been poor away from home this season but have been better in front of their own supporters where they are unbeaten in their last six outings in all competitions with five wins and a draw.
Spurs have stuttered since their flying start to the season and will need to improve their away attitude after their Fulham flop and Newcastle nightmare if they are to keep alive their fading dreams of a top-four finish.
However, the fact they have just one victory in their last 33 visits to the Bridge does not augur well and Chelsea can be backed with a degree of confidence to take maximum points at 6/5 with Coral, Betfair, Betway and Sky Bet as they chase a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.
A 3-2 home win is 16/1 with William Hill and bet365, Palmer to break the deadlock and score at any time is 11/2 and 29/20 respectively with Unibet and BetUK and a goal from Richarlison for Tottenham is 2/1 with Sky Bet.
Buckle up and enjoy another captivating ride.
- • Aston Villa, the only English club left in Europe, are 13/10 with Betfred to beat Olympiakos by more than one goal in the Conference League. Douglas Luiz is 8/1 with bet365, Paddy Power and Betfair to open the scoring and 11/4 with the same firms, Ladbrokes and Coral to hit the net at any time while a 2-0 win is 6/1 with several outlets.
Stephan Jaeger is the only player to beat world No.1 and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler in his last five starts and is 25/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Sung-jae Im, Keith Mitchell and CT Pan are our other each-way bets at 22/1, 33/1 and 66/1 with the same firms
