Football betting: FA Cup - Wigan v Chelsea

Wigan have improved remarkably since the arrival of Steve Bruce but there will be little the Latics can do when faced with the relentlessness of Chelsea in Saturday's FA Cup fourth round live match (BBC 1 17:15). Click here for a free Paddy Power Poker $600 welcome bonus when you join Paddy Power Poker Wigan can count themselves unfortunate not to have come out of last Sunday's encounter with Everton without at least a share of the spoils. The home side outplayed David Moyes's men for most of the match and only lost as a result of a howling error from defender Titus Bramble (who is 50/1 to score an own goal with Paddy Power). Bruce said that the state of the pitch hardly helped his side play the flowing football he is trying to introduce since his arrival in November and the same rule will apply on Saturday evening when the Chelsea machine is set in motion. The Blues' 1-0 win against Everton in the Carling Cup in midweek was evidence of both Chelsea's battling qualities and their sheer physical might and, while a poor playing surface normally favours the better team, in this case the conditions will probably suit the visitors. They may be missing the muscular presence of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and John Terry not to mention the goal threat posed by Frank Lampard but Chelsea's squad is like the Russian army. For every man that goes down, there is a like-for-like replacement charging over the hill. Even if he has players missing, Avram Grant can still call upon Claude Makelele, Steve Sidwell, Michael Ballack, Florent Malouda, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Andriy Shevchenko, Claudio Pizarro and Nicolas Anelka. For all his injury crisis, Grant could still afford to bring on Ashley Cole as a sub in the final minutes of their win at Goodison Park. Who have Wigan got in comparison Emile Heskey and Kevin Kilbane? Chelsea have not been playing well in recent matches and had Petr Cech for a string of outstanding saves on Wednesday night. However, they have lost just twice since Grant took over and better finishing against Everton would have put them out of sight with Anelka was particularly unlucky to see his shot come back off the bar in the second half. It is only a matter of time before Anelka scores and hard though Wigan will battle on Saturday night there can only be one winner in the Lancashire mud - by sheer weight of numbers. Verdict: 1pt Chelsea to win 2-0 @ 5/1 (Paddy Power); 2pts Nicolas Anelka anytime goalscorer @ Evens (Paddy Power) Click here for a free Paddy Power Poker $600 welcome bonus when you join Paddy Power Poker