Sunday 8th January 2023

FA Cup Third Round

Manchester City v Chelsea 16:30

  • Met 7 times in the FA Cup before, Man City 4, Draws 0, Chelsea 3
  • Last met in the FA Cup (17th April 21), Chelsea 1-0 Man City
  • Played in the EFL Cup this season, Man City 2-0 Chelsea
  • Played in the Premier League this season (Thurs 5th Jan), Chelsea 0-1 Man City
  • The last 5 head-to-heads went UNDER 2.5 GOALS (all comps)
  • Both teams DIDN’T score in the last 5 head-to-heads (all comps)
  • Man City have scored in 16 of their last 17 league games vs Chelsea
  • De Bruyne (Man City) has scored in 4 of the last 7 league head-to-heads
  • Mahrez (Man City) has scored in the last 2 head-to-heads
  • Just 1 draws in the last 21 head-to-heads (all comps)
  • Chelsea have NOT scored in their last 4 vs Man City (all comps)

Manchester City and Chelsea will probably be sick of the sight of each other at the moment – they only played on Thursday in the league, and they are back for more this Sunday in the FA Cup.

Thursday’s match-up ended in a 1-0 away win for Man City thanks to a Riyad Mahrez second-half goal and that ‘to nil’ win for the 2019 FA Cup winners now means Chelsea haven’t scored in their last four vs City in all competitions.

Onto Sunday’s match-up and City will have home advantage this time and this is reflected in the match betting odds with City at 1.44, the draw 4.75 and Chelsea 7.00.

The sides have met only seven times in the FA Cup in the past and it’s a fairly even split with City having 4 wins, to Chelsea’s 3 (no draws). While the last time they met in this competition was in April 2021 (semi-final), which Chelsea won 1-0 after a Hakim Ziyech strike (the Blues went onto lose to Leicester in the 2021 Final).

Chelsea and City also played in the EFL Cup earlier this season and that ended in a 2-0 home win for City too, so at the moment the current Premier League champions are certainly coming into Sunday’s game with the bragging rights.

With only one draw in the last 21 head-to-heads (all comps), then we also tend to get a result one way or another when these teams play, but a Chelsea or City win in the ‘double chance’ market is only 1.18.

The recent stats also lean towards a low-scoring game. ALL if the last five matchups between the sides have gone UNDER 2.5 GOALS, while both teams DIDN’T score in those 5 games either. You can back Under 2.5 Goals at 2.20 or both teams ‘not’ to score at 1.90.

As mentioned earlier, Chelsea are also finding it hard to score at the moment. The Blues have not managed to find the back of the net in their last four now vs City, so an option here might be to side with City win ‘to nil’ at 2.37.

Looking at the scoring markets, City’s Erling Haaland, who will be looking for his first goal in the FA Cup, will of course be popular. He’s on offer at 3.20 (1st) or 1.66 (anytime). However, the City players that have the best record when facing Chelsea at the moment are Riyad Mahrez, who has scored in

the last two head-to-heads, plus captain Kevin De Bruyne has bagged four goals in the last 7 league match-ups between the sides.

You can back Mahrez at 7.50 (1st) or 3.25 (anytime), while De Bruyne is 8.50 (1st) or 3.60 (anytime).

Overall, it’s a game that the 6-time FA Cup winners Manchester City will be fully expected to win and with Chelsea struggling in the league and also having not scored in their last four against City then it’s hard to see anything but a win for the current FA Cup favourites here.

However, the 1.44 in the match betting is a tad short – after all, this is the cup and anything can happen. But with City seemingly having the key to stopping Chelsea scoring against them, then both teams NOT to score look a nice option at 1.90.

BEST BET: BOTH TEAMS ‘NOT’ TO SCORE @ 1.90