Chelsea v Queens Park Rangers

Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers lock horns at Stamford Bridge this Sunday, April 29. Kick-off is at 13:30 GMT.

Teams News

Chelsea

The Stamford Bridge faithful will pray that their team’s sensational performance against Barcelona would spark a season-ending league run. Chelsea is now at 6th place with two games to play next week. Fourth place is well within reach depending on the performance of Tottenham and Newscatle which, like them, also have two games at hand.

Having already played two games this week, Roberto Di Matteo will look to rotate his players for the upcoming weeks. This is a given considering the injuries the manager had to deal with, and the age of his roster – Chelsea has 14 players between the ages of 28 and 36. The manager should also feel obliged to keep his players fit and injury free for the upcoming Champions League final in May.

Di Matteo might also feel obliged to keep his strikers sharp. In the last five games, his team has only netted 6 goals. The good news is that the goals have come from no less than 5 players. But then again, with the games getting tighter now, the Italian manager will be asking for more consistency up front, and that means more output from his main guns like Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge, and Fernando Torres.

Queens Park Rangers

QPR fans will be on the edge of their seats in the coming weeks. Mark Hughes’ men are just sitting two places outside the relegation boundary. They are tied with 17th place Wigan in terms of points with only 2 goals in differential separating them. Dropping points and leaking goals will mean disaster for the Hoops, and the team could be plying its trade in the championship next season.

To make things even more complicated, QPR’s final set of fixtures places are arranged in a group-of-death fashion. Chelsea on the road, Stoke at home, and Manchester City at the Etihad are lined up for QPR. And with everything still up to play for, it looks like none of these teams will not be giving Mark Hughes an easy time at all.

Like Chelsea, QPR will be working to build their season finale on their recent performance. A 1-0 win against Tottenham last week displayed the team’s desire to stay in the top-tier of English football.

Chelsea v Queens Park Rangers Betting Preview

Playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after booking the first Champion’s League final spot is a daunting task. To make matters worse, Adel Taarabt is suspended after receiving his marching orders last time out against Tottenham. A Chelsea win looks imminent, with only the scoreline up for debate.

Betting Tip

Verdict: Chelsea will win in front of their homecrowd, 2-0.

Tip: A Chelsea win at 2-0 or 2-1 look good value at 6/1 and 7/1 odds respectively. But you’ll never know – the potential for this team to run riot in front of goal is always worthy to consider. A 3-0 winning score for Chelsea is at 17/2; this is perhaps the best risk one can take at the moment.

Again, the battle between form and potential makes every punt related to this game a little bit complicated. Recent form will tell you that both teams will work this game with under 2.5 total goals (odds are at 5/4 via Bet365). For scorers, I fancy Juan Mata to score anytime at 7/5, with Fernando Torres to score the last goal at 9/2.

All odds are from Bet365.com (£200 FREE BET!).