Football betting tips: FA Cup
1.5pts Chelsea clean sheet at 13/10 (General)
1pt James Bree to be shown a card at 5/1 (bet365, Boylesports)
- Note: All bets are 'normal time' (i.e. in 90 minutes/not extra-time and penalties) only
Saturday evening's trip to Sky Bet Championship strugglers Charlton marks the start of Liam Rosenior's reign as Chelsea boss.
If we include Frank Lampard's 11-game return as interim at the end of the 2022/23 campaign (which I do) it is now six managers in three-and-a-half years of Todd Boehly-led Blueco ownership.
His commitment to heritage ought to be acknowledged. Roman Abramovich went through 15 coaches in his 19 years, all the more remarkable given Jose Mourinho was in charge for six of those. The club, and more importantly the players, are conditioned to quickly move on from the departure of someone so clearly as expendable as a manager.
It should therefore have come as little surprise that under youth coach Calum McFarlane the Blues delivered encouraging displays away to both Manchester City and Fulham, drawing with the former and battling hard only to lose late to the latter, despite a 22nd-minute red card.
On the face of it this fixture has the look of a banana skin, but so much is in the Premier League side's favour.
Charlton sit 19th in the second tier and have won only one of their last 11 matches. Even that solitary victory was over a team in similar strife (Oxford) who then sacked their manager in the aftermath of defeat.
Perhaps the particularly brutal festive period will catch up with Chelsea? Compared with many other top-flight teams they have lucked out in terms of the location of their final two fixtures - less than a couple of miles down the road on Wednesday, and a short journey from west to east London for this one - giving them much less of an excuse.
And then there is the giant squad assembled at Stamford Bridge in recent years.
Although Rosenior will be without the suspended Marc Cucurella after his midweek sending-off, only Arsenal and Manchester City come close to the squad depth the new Chelsea boss has at his disposal.
Reece James, Joao Pedro, Alejandro Garnacho, Wesley Fofana, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato were the outfield players on the bench at Craven Cottage, which gives an indication to what the starting XI may look like at The Valley.
Charlton have scored the fourth-fewest number of goals in the Championship this season (25 in 25 matches) so backing the visitors to win to nil makes appeal. But with that only 6/4 and a CHELSEA CLEAN SHEET available at 13/10, taking the latter is advised instead.
The strength the Blues have in wide areas is especially strong, meaning no matter who starts it will be a tough night for Charlton's wing-backs.
No one faces a sterner challenge than JAMES BREE as all of the options to come into the Chelsea team favour playing from the left.
The Charlton right wing-back has been SHOWN A CARD in all of his last three matches and in five of his last 10, collecting seven yellow cards in 19 starts this season.
At 5/1 to be booked he is certainly worth backing.
Odds correct at 16:00 GMT (8/1/26)
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