Chelsea v Rubin: Back Blues to hold firm in home triumph

Chelsea welcome Rubin Kazan to Stamford Bridge in a Europa League quarter-final bout, and are heavy 1/2 favourites to emerge from this first leg with an advantage.

And the pedigree of the reigning European champions is just one reason to back them to do so, whilst their recent home form is another of prominence.

The Blues have won seven of their last eight matches in all competitions on their own turf, including their last four, and they have conceded just three times in these games also.

With victories and clean sheets emanating from three of their last four Stamford Bridge outings too, and against a side that has failed to score in their last two away games, backing a Chelsea win to nil at 27/20 appears a no-brainer.

Rafael Benitez outlined his intentions for the remainder of the season when fielding a weakened Premier League side, before choosing an arguably superior starting 11 to partake in FA Cup competition last time out.

And as such, desperate to land a trophy this term, he will field a strong team again here, with the likes of Juan Mata and Eden Hazard’s inclusions certain to bolster the Blues’ goalscoring prospects.

Therefore, backing Chelsea to win a game involving at least 2.5 goals at 11/8 may prove a wise move, especially considering such a bet would have paid off in three of the five European games they’ve hosted this term.

Alternatively, in light of the Blues striking on 21 occasions in 10 total European appearances this term, they could prove a shrewd punt to score two or three times here at 11/10.

Of course, as aforementioned, the inclusion of the likes of Mata are key to Chelsea’s prowess in front of goal, and the Spaniard is sure to prove a popular first scorer bet after finding the net 18 times already this season.

The diminutive trequartista is 5/1 to break the deadlock, whilst Fernando Torres, a scorer in Chelsea’s last Europa League game, is 9/2 to notch the opener.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.