Chelsea can take one huge step toward the Premier League title with all three points on Monday. After Tottenham’s loss to West Ham on Friday, a Chelsea win over Middlesbrough would push their lead at the top back up to seven points with just three games remaining.
The Blues were in championship-winning form away to Everton last time out. Billed as the toughest game remaining on their schedule, Chelsea scored a very convincing 3-0 win at Goodison, which is a very impressive result for any team. It was the Blues’ first clean sheet in the league in their last 12 games.
Chelsea should be a very good bet to make it two clean sheets in a row against the lowest-scoring team in the league. The Blues have kept seven consecutive clean sheets against Boro at home, and won six of those games.
Chelsea have also been pretty dominant at home for most of the year. They’ve won 14 of their 16 games at Stamford Bridge, with 43 goals scored and just 13 conceded.
It’ll take nothing short of a miracle for Middlesbrough to climb out of their six-point hole in the relegation zone with just three games remaining, but they’re last two games have shown their not completely dead yet.
After scoring a rare 1-0 victory over relegation victims Sunderland, Boro achieved another rare feat in their most recent game as they scored more than once in a 2-2 home draw against Manchester City. It was the first time Boro scored more than once since Dec. 16 in a 3-0 win over Swansea.
That inability to score goals is a huge reason why Boro are set to go down. They’ve scored just 26 goals all season and just 10 away from home. An abysmal away record is also another major factor. They picked up all three points just once on their travels—that was way back in August—with seven draws and nine defeats.
Their recent two-game run has been a welcome surprise and a nice way to end their Premier League stay on a high, but their chances of scoring a third positive result in a row against what should be a locked-in Chelsea team do not look good to say the least.
Writer’s Prediction
Chelsea turn on the style as they pick up a very convincing 3-0 home win. For better value, take the Blues at -2 on the Asian Handicap.
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