Sunday’s game proved an unhappy homecoming for Jose Mourinho as his Man Utd side were swept aside by former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The result left the Red Devils eight points behind runaway league leaders Man City and the Premiership is already looking like a one-horse race. It bought Chelsea’s beleaguered boss, Antonio Conte, a measure of respite after a dreadful run of form, and showed that the Blues are by no means a spent force. Here are five things we learned from the game:
Kante makes all the difference
Never consider betting on Chelsea unless N’Golo Kante is in the starting 11. In the season before he arrived they were dreadful, battling relegation throughout much of the campaign, sacking Mourinho and eventually finishing 10th. Meanwhile, Kante was busy winning the title at unfancied Leicester, and his move to Stamford Bridge heralded an amazing upturn in fortunes for the Blues. The Frenchman galvanised their midfield and inspired them to a comfortable title success, walking off with all three Player of the Year awards. Chelsea were playing reasonably well this season, but an injury to Kante coincided with a shock defeat at the hands of bottom club Crystal Palace and a mauling against Roma. He made all the difference on his return as Chelsea got back to winning ways, and they look a completely different team with him in the engine room.
Utd lack consistency
Man Utd have now taken just four points from their last four games and fallen well behind their city rivals in the title race. The odds offered for them winning league games each week are pretty short, so it is not worth backing them right now. Instead, it might be better to back them in upcoming knockout games in Europe and the cups as Mourinho is a master at those sort of fixtures, as he proved by leading the Red Devils to a league cup and Europa League double last season.
Hazard returning to his best
The Belgian forward was also crucial to Chelsea’s title win last season as he emerged as the league’s most devastating attacking force. They have suffered at the start of this season as he broke his leg and has since been battling to regain match fitness and sharpness, but he looked back to his impressive best against Utd at the weekend. He held the ball up well, caused problems for Utd’s defenders by running at them and linked up well with match winner Alvaro Morata. If he remains this sharp, Kante remains fit and Morata displays consistency – three big ifs – then Chelsea can certainly claw themselves back into the title race and look an interesting long-shot at green listed bookmakers 25/1 with Black Type and 20/1 with 888 Sport, Stan James, Sky Bet and Paddy Power. You can get 4/9 on them finishing in the top four with Paddy Power, Boyle Sports and Betfair, while Betway and Sky Bet are offering an intriguing 5/4 on them finishing as the top London club. Arsenal are all over the place, so it looks like a straight fight between Chelsea and Spurs. That will be tough for the Blues, but they got the better of Tottenham last season and have the ability to do it again.
Consistency key for Utd’s forwards
Neither Marcus Rashford nor Anthony Martial can seem to nail down a place in the Man Utd’s starting 11 as both continue to blow hot and cold. Martial has not started back to back league games all season and this uncertainty seems to have affected his form. From a betting perspective, it does not make a great deal of sense to back either in the anytime goalscorer odds, because they could only end up on the pitch for 20 minutes. Instead, Romelu Lukaku remains their main man and should be a good option in this market going forward, as he will surely get better service in future games.
Man City are the real winners
City beat Arsenal 3-1 at the weekend and are now eight points clear at the top of the table after this latest defeat for Man Utd. If Mourinho’s men cannot rally, it will be left to Chelsea and Tottenham to try to chase City down, but the gap already looks too wide. City are now best priced at 2/11 with 10Bet and that looks a great option for anyone that wants to invest a large amount of cash and see a decent return in six months’ time.
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