With one match in the quarterfinals of the EFL cup behind us, we will focus on the next one between Chelsea and Bournemouth, which will be played at Stamford Bridge at the same time as Arsenal – Tottenham match.
Chelsea has advanced into the quarterfinals after defeating Liverpool in 1/16 finals (2:1) and Derby in 1/8 finals (3:2) in a match that could easily go the other way. The match against Derby saw a total of 5 goals, which were all scored in the first half. The opener was scored in the 5th minute after a terrible mistake from Tomori who sent the ball into his own net, gifting Chelsea a lead. Only 4 minutes later Chelsea conceded a goal which levelled the match at 1:1. In the 18th Minute Derby had an excellent chance to score another goal, but Martyn Waghorn struck the ball wrong and trapped alone in front of Chelsea goalkeeper. In the 21st minute, Derby made another huge mistake as they conceded another own goal. The ball hit Keogh and bounced into their net, giving Chelsea a lead once again. At this point, the match saw 3 goals, with all of them being scored by Derby players. However, despite scoring 2 own goals, Derby players did not give up and continued fighting. Their attempts paid off in the 27th minute when Waghorn scored an equalizer. The match was at 2:2 and it seemed like the score will remain firm until the end of the half, but Chelsea had other plans and scored a goal in the 41st minute from a corner kick. In the second half, Chelsea had far more ball possession (69%) compared to Derby (31%) but was not as effective with it. Derby had 6 goal attempts and 4 shots on goal, whereas Chelsea had 6 goal attempts and only 2 shots on goal. Derby came close to scoring an equalizer on several occasions, but all their attempts were stopped. The second half ended scoreless, which saw Chelsea winning it 3:2. All in all an impressive performance from Derby and quite underwhelming performance from Chelsea, who quite frankly should have lost considering their performance, and the fact that they won as a result of 2 auto goals.
Bournemouth have advanced into the quarterfinals after defeating MK Dons (0:3), Blackburn (2:3) and most recently Norwich (1:2). In the Premier League, they are currently at 11th place with an overall record of 7-2-8.In their recent 5 games they have won only 1 against Huddersfield (2:1), however, they were defeated by Arsenal (1:2), Manchester City (3:1), Liverpool (0:4) and most recently against Wolves (2:0). Their results are far from impressive, but on the other hand, they did play against top teams in the league in 3/5 occasions. Despite their somewhat poor results recently, Bournemouth can play well if the stars align. This will be their opportunity to get closet to their first silverware and I expect them to show their best performance against Chelsea who are coming into this match as a clear favourite.
Bournemouth has not yet won a major trophy but this season they just might have a chance to do so. Of course, they will have a tough opponent today, but I was not impressed by Chelsea recent performances, and I would not be surprised if Chelsea struggles against Bournemouth. Chelsea will most likely go into this match without Hazzard, in addition, we expect Maurizio Sarri to rest his “bigger” players against Bournemouth. If Bournemouth can perform as well as they did in the EFL Cup so far, this match will be a close one. I expect this to end as a match with no more than 2 goals, that is why we will bet on Under 3 goals, which offers good odds all thing considered.
Prediction: Under 3.00 goals
Odds: 1.91 Matchbook
