Chelsea v Leicester: Torres to end goal drought in FA Cup triumph
Published:Fernando Torres may not have scored for 26 league and cup games for Chelsea since October, but his performance in midweek against Napoli indicated that he could strike against Leicester in the 90 minutes at 4/5.
Torres was introduced just after the hour mark by Roberto Di Matteo in the Champions League victory and played like a man possessed, despite still not managing to find the target.
This display may earn him a start in the FA Cup quarter final showdown with Leicester as Di Matteo slightly rotates his squad, although with the competition looking like Chelsea’s best hope of silverware, there will be no danger of the game being underestimated.
Chelsea can count the FA Cup among their most favoured competitions in recent seasons as this is sixth time they have reached the quarter finals in the last seven years.
Meanwhile, they have progressed to the semi finals in four of the last six campaigns and Chelsea’s odds are 2/7 to beat Leicester at Stamford Bridge.
Leicester will be hoping that after the highs of midweek, Chelsea will struggle to reproduce this level of performance so soon after.
There is also hope for Leicester if they can follow the example of Barnsley, who were in the Championship when dumping out Chelsea at this stage of the competition in 2008.
It is 10/1 that Leicester beat Chelsea, but the best they could maybe hope for is a replay as only twice since 1998 have a Premier League team lost a home quarter final to opposition from a lower division.
The draw can be backed at 4/1 and Leicester would certainly have a greater chance of success back on their own patch.
Jermaine Beckford has already scored five goals in this season’s FA Cup and represents Leicester’s best hope of a goal.
He is 4/1 to score at any time in the 90 minutes and a potentially lucrative 12/1 to break the deadlock.
