FA CUP SEMI-FINAL: The Striker previews Sunday’s second FA Cup semi-final. CHELSEA v CRYSTAL PALACE at 4.30pm, get The Striker’s recommended BETDAQ bet.
CHELSEA V CRYSTAL PALACE
4.30pm We’re back at Wembley on Sunday afternoon on BETDAQ Betting Exchange for the second FA Cup Semi-Final as Chelsea take on Crystal Palace. This will no doubt be an amazing occasion for Crystal Palace fans, but from a Chelsea point of view they won’t be unhappy to face Palace. This will be the sixth time that Crystal Palace reached an FA Cup Semi-Final, however they have yet to win yet! If you believe the betting markets, they’ll have to wait longer too.
Chelsea come into this tie as the hot favourites. They are trading 1.62 at the time of writing, with Crystal Palace 6.6 and the draw 4.1. It’s fair to say that the average football fan will be expecting a Chelsea win here, but Crystal Palace come into this game in fantastic form. They might have lost 2-1 to Leicester at the weekend in the Premier League but their performance wasn’t bad at all. They were unlucky to lose, and finished with an xG figure of over double what Leicester created. They also have beaten Arsenal 3-0, drew 0-0 with Manchester City and beat Wolves 2-0 in their three games prior to Leicester. Obviously they were a little lucky to pick up the 0-0 draw with City – but sides are always going to sit back and concede a big xG against a side like City – it’s about survival for clubs like Palace!
Although there is a big gulf in class between the sides here, we know that Chelsea aren’t on the same level as Manchester City. Palace will no doubt come into this tie with reasonably negative tactics – they will be the side sitting back and Chelsea will be making the running, but they have been creating enough in front of goal lately to be reasonably confident here of creating some chances. I hope for their sake that they “have a go” rather than just sit back and lose without a fight. Chelsea were involved in a massively dramatic game midweek in the Champions League! They pushed Real Madrid all the way into extra time when very few people game them a chance after the first leg.
That would have no doubt taken a lot of out of them, but this is a good fixture to bounce back in. Chelsea were superb on Tuesday night, and any performance even close to that level will see them win here. They were also fantastic last weekend in the Premier League with a 6-0 hammering of Southampton. I questioned the form of Chelsea recently – they were going through a lot off the pitch and their xG figures weren’t that impressive – but in the last week they have been exceptional. The Southampton win was very good, and what can you say about the performance away to Real Madrid.
I know Crystal Palace come into the game in good form, but they simply aren’t at Chelsea’s level. I would have Chelsea a couple of ticks shorter than their current 1.62 and I’m very happy to back them here. Thomas Tuchel has an incredible record in Semi-Finals as you can see on Purple Patch this week, and I fully expect a smooth Chelsea win here.
The Striker Says:
Four points win Chelsea to beat Crystal Palace at 1.62 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/CheCry
