Chelsea haven’t been in a title race for a while, but the race for the Champions League place this season has been almost as good. This week’s midweek round has been a particularly interesting one as we hurtle towards the finishing line.
Whether you’re in Cyprus, gambling at a casino online or just at wagering with your friends, the results will have swung things majorly in your favour – assuming you were betting on Chelsea to make the top 5 come the end of the season.
First up was the six pointer of the night – Chelsea taking on Aston Villa at Villa Park.
We had written before the game that the Blues needed a result or the race was pretty much over for them. Barring a miraculous run (and they already pulled off that trick a year ago), the Blues would have been too far behind the competition with a loss in that game.
Well not only did they win, they won in style, blowing the Villains away. After going behind just a couple of minutes into the game, there were fears that we were about to see our Champions League chances implode. Instead, it went quite the other way.
The Blues got back into the game, then started building a comfortable lead, repeatedly exploiting Villa’s high line with pace in behind. Joao Pedro continued his good form, picking up a hattrick, and Alejandro Garnacho celebrated his return to the team with a decisive performance on the left.
Even the struggling Cole Palmer managed to bag an open play goal.
It became clear pretty early on that it was going to be a win for Liam Rosenior’s men, allowing many Blues fans to switch over to the other game that was going on with top four implications. Manchester United were battling it out with Newcastle.
The Magpies were at 1-1 and down to ten men when most fans tuned in, assuming they were just going to watch Eddie Howe’s men try to hold on. Instead, they got to see an injury time winner for Newcastle, sparking celebrations in West London as well as on Tyneside.
That compounded the superb result from the night before, where Liverpool had been beaten by relegation threatened Wolves.
Once the dust had settled, things are closer than ever. Man U and Aston Villa are on 51 points, Chelsea and Liverpool 48. All have 9 to play, and there are multiple games between the teams in that group to come.
