Chelsea vs Newcastle Betting Tips

Knocked out of the Champions League, beaten by both Middlesbrough and Fulham in recent Premiership matches, coach Jose Mourinho reputed to be falling out of love with life in England. Are these genuine cracks in Chelsea, which are beginning to show? Personally, I doubt it. Indeed, their Champions League encounters with Barcelona did expose flaws in their game, in as much that they do tend to rely on route-one football when attacking via the flanks fails, but it should be remembered that Barca are, put simply, in a class of their own. And the fact remains that, although there are chinks in the Blues' armour, they are still by far and away they most accomplished side on domestic fronts. Indeed, they bounced back by winning their FA Cup tie with Colchester and their next two Premiership matches after being beaten by Boro, and they again demonstrated their mental fortitude when beating an in-form Spurs side immediately after being knocked out of Europe. Chances are, they'll bounce back from defeat at Craven Cottage by beating Newcastle in this FA Cup quarter-final tie on Wednesday evening. Newcastle will also be mindful of the fact that Chelsea have lost just one match in any competition at Stamford Bridge this season - against Barcelona in the Champions League first leg last month - and the Magpies will not have forgotten how easily Mourinho's men brushed them aside in SW London in November when they were given a 3-0 beating. With Newcastle's defence still looking shaky despite Roeder and Shearer's attempts to shore things up at the back, I can see Chelsea's pacey players terrorising their defence. With Joe Cole playing out of his skin this season - and with his eye for goal becoming ever sharper - the 9/4 offered by William Hill about him in the anytime goalscorer market looks well worth an interest. Cole has scored in both of Chelsea's FA Cup matches in which he has started, and has netted an impressive seven goals from twenty-two full appearances in the Premiership.