FA Cup / Mike Norman / 13 January 2009 / 1

Mike Norman believes reports of Phil Scolari and his men's demise are premature and is tipping a full strength Chelsea to dispose of Southend with ease on Wednesday night.

I have to laugh when I hear pundits like Alan Hansen talk about Chelsea having major problems all over the pitch, and newspaper reports that Phil Scolari is an under pressure manager.

Granted, the Blues haven't been in the best of form of late but they can still boast a squad of not one, but two international players in every position, and the club sit just four points adrift in the Premier League title race.

Things might not be clicking for Chelsea at the moment but you don't become a bad team overnight.

Having said all that, Chelsea can ill-afford to slip up when they meet league one outfit Southend United in Wednesday's FA Cup third round replay. The Match Odds market has Chelsea available to back at [1.28], Southend at [13.5] and The Draw at [6.4].

It's impossible to see a anything other than a Chelsea win but then the same would have been said prior to the meeting at Stamford Bridge. However, Steve Tilson's Southend United have been knocked out of both the League Cup and the Johnstones Paint Trophy already at Roots Hall this season and I can't see how they will avoid it being three cup exits in a row in front of their own supporters.

I'm quite confident that Chelsea will have silenced the home crowd by half-time and the tie will be as good as over. Chelsea/Chelsea in the Half Time/ Full Time market might look a bit skinny at just [1.78], but I still think it's more likely than the only other conceivable option - Draw/Chelsea at [5.2].

Scolari has labeled the match as 'the game of the year' (I think he means season), not just for Southend, but for his own players also. He is certain to field a full strength team, and whether that means either Didier Drogba or Nicolas Anelka playing as a lone striker, or both starting from the outset, Chelsea have enough fire-power to land us the Over 2.5 Goals bet at [1.77]. In fact, with a new defensive system set to be employed by Scolari on Wednesday, Chelsea may well score a few, but concede at least one - Over 3.5 Goals is available to back at [2.9].

Not many neutrals would begrudge Southend a goal in front of their own fans, and though the No option in the Chelsea Clean Sheet market at [2.18] might appear a punt from the heart, Chelsea's new zonal marking system might take a game or two to perfect. If you think otherwise, a Chelsea Clean Sheet can be backed at [1.8].

In the Correct Score market, scorelines like 3-1 ([13.5]) and 3-0 ([8.8]) to Chelsea will be popular, but my own preferences is for Any Unquoted at odds of [5.1] as I think Chelsea will be more than capable of running riot as they look to silence their critics.

The First Goalscorer market is yet to mature, but when it does I'd be looking to back Joe Cole or Michael Ballack for a bit of interest at odds of around [10.0] and [12.0] respectively.

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1. Effectsofhgh | 14 January 2009

   Chelsea... the best!!!

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