Chelsea vs Wycombe Betting Preview

The good ship Chelsea has been sailing through choppy waters of late. The Blues have endured their worst string of results since Jose Mourinho took hold of the reigns at Stamford Bridge - incredibly, they've won just two of their last seven matches! Things will reach a new low if they fail to overcome Wycombe in their Carling Cup semi-final second leg at 'The Bridge' on Tuesday evening. Admittedly, only one of those seven matches resulted in defeat, which was at Liverpool on Saturday. But results are just part of the problem. Indeed, since skipper John Terry picked up an injury against Newcastle in December, Chelsea's defence has been a shambles. Furthermore, the continued speculation surrounding Mourinho's future at the club must be having a negative impact on the players. The Blues were thrown a lifeline with regard to their aspirations of winning a third successive Premiership title when current league leaders Man Utd failed to capitalise on Chelsea's defeat at Anfield. United were beaten 2-1 by Arsenal at The Emirates on Sunday. As such, the gap remains six points between first and second. However, first and foremost the south west London side need to think about regaining momentum and restoring confidence, starting with a convincing victory in this match. The Blues, who remain unbeaten at home this term, were held to a 1-1 draw by the Chairboys at Adams Park in the first leg earlier this month. Chelsea's failure to put the game to bed after Wayne Bridge opened the scoring after 36 minutes was disconcerting. But when Jermaine Easter equalised for the League 2 side 13 minutes from time, the travelling fans must have been rubbing their eyes with disbelief - after all, Wycombe Wanderers are fully 77 league places below Chelsea. Carvalho missed Saturday's match at Liverpool with a fever but will be back at the heart of defence in this tie, while Claude Makalele is back from suspension. On the flipside, Chelsea will be without John Terry, Khalid Boulahrouz, Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge. The visitors' manager, Paul Lambert, will probably name the same starting XI as the that which held the Premiership champs to a draw, with the exception of on-loan defender Stephen O'Halloran, who has returned to Aston Villa. One thing is for sure, the Buckinghamshire minnows will throw the kitchen sink at their illustrious rivals. No-one would have expected them to reach this stage of the competition - and it's dangerous to underestimate an underdog who has nothing to lose. Indeed, all the emphasis, all the expectation and all the pressure wrests on the shoulders of Mourinho and his charges. If they fail to deliver, the headlines of the sports pages of Wednesday's daily nationals will make for grim reading from a Chelsea point of view. However, it would take a brave - or, perhaps, slightly whimsical - punter to predict anything other than a Chelsea win. It might not be as emphatic as it should be given the gulf in class between the two sides, but it should be a home win all the same. The south west London side remain unbeaten in 15 matches in their backyard this season and, despite the fact that Wycombe have a good record in London having beaten both Fulham and Charlton away in this competition, lowering the colours of the Blues on their turf will be a bridge too far. That said, I do not envisage Wycombe crumbling as Macclesfield did when going down by six goals to one in their visit to 'The Bridge' in the third round of the FA Cup. A realistic option is to split stakes and back Chelsea to win 2-0 and 3-0 in the correct score market at 6/1 and 7/1 withBetfred and Coral respectively. Mourinho's men have averaged 2.2 goals per game at home and have conceded an average of just 0.6 per game. These stats augur well. Let's hope that both Chelsea and Wycombe have read the script. Verdict:1pt Chelsea to win 2-0 @ 6/1 (Betfred)1pt Chelsea to win 3-0 @ 7/1 ( Coral )