FA Cup / Dan Fitch / 06 March 2010 /

Stoke City have so far sent two Premier League giants packing in this season's FA Cup and Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch thinks they will give Chelsea a tough game in the quarter-finals. Best Bet: Back both teams to score @ [2.06].

When the draw was made for the FA Cup quarter-finals the tie that immediately stood out was the prospect of Chelsea playing at home to Manchester City; AKA Terry v Bridge 2.

The only people that weren't excited at this prospect were the good folk at Stoke City and as Manchester City needed to first circumnavigate a tricky away replay at the Britannia Stadium before reaching the quarter stage, this was a major stumbling block in regards to the plum tie of the round coming to fruition.

Not many teams come away from playing Stoke with a win and having now eliminated Arsenal and Manchester City, the Potters face their trickiest challenge yet, as they travel to high-flying Chelsea.

Some would say Chelsea are overdue a win having lost in successive games against Manchester City and Inter Milan, but Stoke have reason to fancy their chances. With Petr Cech injured, Henrique Hilario was a liability against Manchester City. Carlo Ancelotti could turn to Ross Turnbull, but it's fair to say that he didn't inspire much confidence between the sticks during Middlesbrough's relegation last season. Whoever Ancelotti chooses, Stoke will put them under as much pressure as possible from set pieces and throw ins.

Chelsea's defence as a whole is looking pretty shaky. Since news broke of the John Terry affair, they have kept only two clean sheets in eight games and with Ashley Cole and Yuri Zhrikov injured, have been forced to play Florent Malouda as an emergency left back.

With Jose Boswinga ruled out for the rest of the season and Juliano Belletti suspended along with Michael Ballack, Chelsea lack options in defence. This may be further complicated by Ricardo Carvalho's late fitness test.

I think that Stoke can score on Sunday and you can get odds of [1.96] for Chelsea to be unable to keep a clean sheet and [2.06] for both teams to score.

Since Stoke were promoted to the Premier League they have played Chelsea three times and on two occasions they have found the net in a 2-1 defeat. Over 2.5 goals can be backed at [1.7], with unders at [2.38].

In the goalscorer markets, Didier Drogba is the favourite to score first at [4.1] and is [1.81] to score at anytime, with Nicolas Anelka at [5.0] and [1.86] and Frank Lampard at [6.2] and [2.4]. For Stoke, their FA Cup hero Ricardo Fuller leads the betting at [11.5] and [4.5].

Stoke will have to handle Chelsea's dangerous attackers without Ryan Shawcross, who begins his suspension following his sending off against Arsenal. Danny Higginbotham and Matthew Etherington will both have to undergo fitness tests.

Chelsea are the [1.3] favourites, with the draw at [6.4] and Stoke at [11.5]. I think that price is much too short. Whilst I can't see Stoke winning, I wouldn't rule out a draw and recommend a lay of Chelsea at [1.18] in the To Qualify market.

If you think Chelsea will win, then they can be backed to be winning at half time/full time at [1.85], with the draw/Chelsea at [4.9]. A 2-0 Chelsea win is [6.8], with 2-1 at [10.5] and 1-1 at [13.5]. In the Asian Handicap market, Chelsea -1.5 can be backed at [1.88], while Stoke + 1.5 are [2.02].

This is a tough one to predict and as such I'm going to recommend backing a 2-1 Chelsea victory, while laying them to qualify, as a saver.

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