Blackpool v Chelsea, Monday 7th March

My Thoughts
2 sides here whose respective form is going in opposite directions. After a hugely promising start to the season, Blackpool's form has nosedived somewhat, with Ian Holloway's side bottom of the 6-match form table, and now just 2 points above the relegation zone. Chelsea, on the other hand, are getting back to their best form. Once Fernando Torres is fully integrated into their side, there may be even more to come from them

The Verdict
All the stats here point to an away win, and one by a considerable margin at that. Blackpool are further handicapped by the absence through suspension of both Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell. That said, they will still fancy their chances of scoring against a Chelsea defence which fares considerably worse away from home than at home- they have managed clean sheets in 62% of their league home games, but just 29% away from home, and with their gung-ho, all-out attack style, even without the aforementioned 2 key players, Blackpool should still create chances. That said, Blackpool's defensive record is little short of woeful- they have yet to keep a clean sheet at home this season, shipping 24 goals at Bloomfield Road so far (an average of 1.84 per game)- it's therefore nigh-on impossible to see at least one of Chelsea's frontline consisting of 2 from Torres, Anelka, Drogba and Kalou not hitting the net. It looks like goals could be plentiful, but Chelsea should come out on top. Away win

The Bet
With Chelsea a best price of just 1/3 with Paddy Power to win outright, best to look elsewhere for value. If Chelsea manage an early goal, then they should go on to win convincingly, therefore 2 bets to be looking at would be Half Time/ Full Time Chelsea/Chelsea available at a general 4/5, along with Chelsea on the handicap- Chelsea -1 available at 4/5 with Blue Square. A more speculative punt would be on the correct score- 3-1 Chelsea at 12/1 with Coral and 4-1 Chelsea at 17/1 with Unibet