Brentford v Chelsea Prediction 27th January 2013

Brentford v Chelsea Betting Preview
A West London derby for Sunday’s fourth round FA Cup clash. Brentford are running hot in League One in their quest for promotion to the Championship. Uwe Rosler’s men have goals in them and will be relishing a chance to get their crack at the European Champions. Chelsea were dumped out of the League Cup semi final in midweek and have to rally themselves again for an assault on the FA Cup, which is looking like their last opportunity to get their hands on any silverware this season.

Brentford v Chelsea Betting Odds at online bookmaker Paddy Power
Chelsea 2/7, Draw 9/2, Brentford 9/1

Brentford v Chelsea Recommended Bet:
The Bees look fully destined to be in the thick of the promotion race come the end of the season in League One, and they are on a good stretch of confident form. They have lost just one of their last fifteen matches in their league, winning nine of them, so they’ll be confident on home turf at Griffin Park for the visit of Chelsea. The Bees have lost just two home matches in League One all season and are running with a pretty decent defence, conceding at a rate of just over a goal per game. Clayton Donaldson will be their big hope, striking fifteen league goals for the season and looking like the one to carry the biggest threat to Chelsea.

This will be the second time that Brentford have hosted Chelsea at Griffin Park in the FA Cup, the last time being back in 1950 which produced a 1-0 win for the Blues. Brentford needed a replay in their third round tie against Southend to book their tie against Chelsea. After a 2-2 draw, they squeezed through against the League Two side 2-1 in the replay back on home soil. It could be a rousing atmosphere in West London, but all the impetus will be on Chelsea. Brentford have won just one of their last 13 FA Cup matches against sides from the Premier League.

The Blues are a very good FA Cup side having won 15 of their last 16 FA Cup fourth round ties alone. The only defeat was a penalty shoot out against Everton. Overall, Chelsea have lost only one of their last 35 FA Cup games outright, winning 29 of them. They have the expensive talent to put out on the field and they haven’t been in bad form lately. Again, they were bamboozled by Swansea’s organised defence and counter attack ability in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi final though. But they have an abundance of talent that can produce goals and aren’t likely to give too much away to give Brentford a big shot at claiming a major scalp.

Chelsea have conceded just nine goals in their last 13 away FA Cup matches and in none of those matches have they conceded more than one. Juan Mata and Frank Lampard look to be the biggest FA Cup influencers for Chelsea. Mata has four goals and five assists in eight FA Cup ties in a Chelsea shirt, Lampard has been involved in 10 goals in his last nine FA Cup appearances. Chelsea do not have a lot of depth in their squad, but there will probably be a few changes at hand to give players a rest. There is little sign of an upset happening, although they may come through some uncomfortable moments, they should have enough to book their place in the fifth round. A Chelsea/Chelsea Half Time/Full Time bet is trading at 5/6 with online bookmaker Paddy Power.

Form
Brentford DDWWLD, Chelsea WLWDWD

Stat Attack
Chelsea have won six of their last seven away matches in all competitions
THe Blues have lost just one of their last 35 FA Cup matches
Brentford have won just one of their last 13 FA Cup matches against EPL sides
Chelsea have won 15 of their last 16 fourth round matches in the cup

Online bookmaker Promotion
There is FA Cup accumulator betting insurance to take on the weekend at Paddy Power. Although Brentford v Chelsea is on Sunday, build a five fold accumulator or bigger on Saturday’s FA Cup matches and if your bet loses because of just one leg, then the bookie will refund your lost stake as a free bet. Get yourself up to a free £50 bet from Paddy Power, who will match the value of your first stake on a new account.