Will the Blues master this mandatory task?
Cardiff City remains the only non-English club to have ever won the FA Cup. However, the Bluebirds, currently in the third division, have not yet made it to the quarterfinals of the EFL Cup. But if Cardiff beats Chelsea and the Welsh team advances, they will be just two wins away from a major coup. And after all, Irish coach Brian Barry-Murphy’s team has already eliminated a Premier League representative, Burnley FC, 2-1 away from home on their way to the quarterfinals.
The Londoners, on the other hand, recently played a third-division team in the third round and only managed a 2-1 win at Lincoln City, who are six points behind Cardiff City in the current League One table. This is hardly surprising, as the brutally packed schedule in the EFL Cup means that rotation is practically a given. In Wales, Enzo Maresca will certainly rely on players such as Facundo Buonanotte, Tyrique George, and Alejandro Garnacho again.
We consider it very likely that this will still be enough to reach the semifinals. Nevertheless, we have our doubts that it will be a complete walk in the park. Rather, the Blues may be in for a game of patience in Wales. Accordingly, the tip that the Pensioners will score a maximum of two away goals is very popular.
In general, it should not be a high-scoring game. After all, Cardiff City leads the third-tier League One table because it has conceded only 20 goals in 19 league games. The Bluebirds have also won their last five league games. It therefore makes sense to apply an Asian handicap of +2.0 to the Welsh side, for which the Bet365 app offers odds of 1.60 for Cardiff against Chelsea.
Cardiff – Chelsea Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 15 – 10 – 20
The two teams have crossed paths a total of 45 times and are now facing each other again for the first time since March 2019. Chelsea FC has not only won 20 of the 45 matches against Cardiff City, but has also beaten the Welsh team five times in a row.
Cardiff – Chelsea Tip
Basically, when Cardiff plays Chelsea, predicting that the third division team will advance is far too risky to be considered valuable. Given the multiple demands and crowded schedule, it is likely that Enzo Maresca will field his young guns in Wales. Nevertheless, these youngsters simply have too much quality. In this respect, the Bluebirds would need to have an absolutely perfect day, even though they have the confidence of being League One leaders with five wins in a row.
In such an uneven match, the best bet is one that excludes as little as possible. In addition to positive handicap options on the home side, we believe that the Londoners will score a maximum of two away goals in the course of a potentially tough rotation against a likely very defensive Welsh side, regardless of the outcome of the match.
