Community Shield Betting

You know that feeling you get when you get to a restaurant and you are so hungry you polish off two baskets of the free bread (can’t just be me) before you even get to the starter, well that is how I feel about the new Football season. I can’t wait until action begins again and Man City and Chelsea in the Community Shield has whetted my appetite. Who will take home the first trophy of the season?

Bookmakers make Man City the 13/10 (general) favourites to win this match and history is on their side with seven of the last ten Community Shield matches having been won by won the side who finished top of the league in the previous season. City, of course, became champions with two dramatic late goals at the end of last season. Chelsea meanwhile had an exceptional last half of the season under Roberto Di Matteo to lift both the FA Cup and Champions League.

This game promises to give us the first clues as to how these sides will shape up this season with City possibly showcasing a new formation (3-5-2) and Chelsea showcasing a number of new faces (Hazard, Oscar, Marin). League champions Man City are likely to be without Vincent Kompany and Gareth Barry because of injuries, while Chelsea are unlikely to rush Juan Mata after he played in the Olmypics. New signing Eden Hazard is likely to feature though. Those who fancy the Blues to come out on top here can get 12/5 (Totesport/betfred). The 90 minute draw meanwhile is priced at 5/2 (pinnacle). The risk of penalties looms large in this match with three of the last five games going to penalties (Chelsea have been involved in two of these). If you want to remove this threat then you can bet on who will lift the trophy with pinnacle offering the best odds for both sides, 5/7 (Man City) and 14/11 (Chelsea).

Carlos Tevez is likely to start up front for Man City (alongside Aguero) and the Argentinian striker has a good record against Chelsea netting six in his seven previous domestic games against them. Tevez is 6/1 (general) to open the scoring. Those who think Chelsea will grab the opener can get 7/1 (general) Fernando Torres or 10/1 (ladbrokes) Eden Hazard. The last five domestic meetings between these sides have seen four penalties scored and with defences a little rusty it might pay to side with the penalty takers. Frank Lampard is 10/1 (general) while Sergio Aguero is 11/2 (general).

Both games between these sides last season ended 2-1 to the home side and a repeat of that scoreline here to City is 9/1 (Blue Sq/888sport), while a 2-1 Chelsea win is priced at 11/1 (general). Both teams to score looks very possible bearing in mind the scorelines of the head to head meetings last season and the fact that Chelsea have scored in each of their nine Shield appearances. The Blues have conceded in seven of those and 8/11 (Skybet/Stan James) fr both teams to score seems reasonable.

The last three meetings between these sides have all seen the winning goal scored in the last 15 minutes and you can get Draw HT/Man City FT at 5/1 with Bodog or Draw HT/Chelsea FT at 13/2 (Skybet/BWin/Bodog).

A final stat of note is that just seven of the last 20 Shield winners have gone on to win the league title (though four of the five won the league in the subsequent season).

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10/08/2012     © Frixo 2024