Chelsea v Leicester City Betting: 9/1 double for the FA Cup Final
It feels incredibly strange for the FA Cup final to be taking place before the end of the Premier League season, but that’s the case in this Covid-impacted campaign with Chelsea facing Leicester at Wembley at 5:15pm Saturday.
Chelsea have the chance to claim the first of two trophies available in the next few weeks, with the FA Cup being the first on the agenda before the Champions League final against Manchester City. Despite a midweek defeat at home to Arsenal, the West London side have lost just three of their 26 games under German manager Thomas Tuchel and are 4/9 to lift the trophy on Saturday. You can find a full preview for the game along with football tips from @TipsterWizard here.
Leicester picked up a huge three points at Old Trafford on Tuesday as they beat a heavily rotated Manchester United side in their pursuit of a top-four finish that would mean so much after the heartbreak of last season. Brendan Rodgers has a poor record as a manager against Chelsea winning just one of 16 meetings; his Foxes side can be backed at 7/4 to win their first ever FA Cup.
Ahead of the final we’ve taken a look at the numbers behind some of the key players for both clubs and have picked out a double we like the look of. Those good folk over at Paddy Power have given us a little boost on this selection which takes it from 7/1 to the price of 9/1.
Masterful Mount
With Chelsea’s style of play under Tuchel and seven of the last eight meetings between the two sides featuring under 2.5 goals, we’re not expecting a thriller at Wembley. One way sides may look to break each other down is with shots from range, particularly Leicester with Chelsea having kept 18 clean sheets in 26 under their new manager.
Only Timo Werner (2.2pg) has averaged more shots per game than Mason Mount in the league for Chelsea this season with the England international having taken 2.15 per game on average. Mount is often on free-kicks for Chelsea and he ranks first for the Blues when it comes to attempts from outside the box this season with 20 more than any other player and 44 in total.
Just four players in the Premier League have taken more shots from outside the box this season than Mason Mount and we fancy him to hit the target with one in the cup final. The 22-year-old has registered four shots on target from outside the box in his last eight appearances, although two of those appearances came from the bench. He’s also had 11 shots from outside the box in that period and we can see him trying his luck from range and testing Schmeichel.
Marvellous Maddison
One of those four players who has taken more shots from outside the box than Mason Mount this season is Leicester City’s James Maddison. The attacking midfielder has let off 53 shots from distance this season with only Bruno Fernandes having taken more.
Maddison has hit the target 17 times this campaign from outside the box with three of those resulting in goals. Again, a set-piece taker for his team, Maddison should be fresh after being rested against Manchester United and with him landing a shot on target from outside the box in his last eight league starts we’re more than happy to have him in this double.
James Maddison and Mason Mount ranking 2nd and 5th for shots from outside the box in the Premier League this season. Both players are free-kick-takers and have the ability to test the opposition keepers from distance. With Maddison having registered a shot on target from outside the box in his last eight league starts, we fancy the double with both him and Mount to have 1+ shot on target from outside the box. Boosted from 7/1 to 9/1 we feel this has more than the chance of landing than the 9/1 implies.
Enjoy the final which can be seen live on BBC One at 17:15. If you are having a bet on the game, please do so responsibly.
