Premier League Betting Odds, Picks, Preview, Predictions, Best Bets: Take Christian Pulisic, Chelsea to Hammer Leicester City at Stamford Bridge
Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images. Pictured: Chelsea teammates Cesar Azpilicueta, left, Christian Pulisic and and Jorginho celebrate a goal.
- Chelsea welcomes Leciester City to Stamford Bridge for Thursday's Premier League contest.
- The Blues are heavily favored to earn the win, which is where analyst Avery Zimmerman has landed for his top pick.
- Check out below why he thinks Chelsea delivers an easy win in this confrontation.
Chelsea vs. Leicester City Odds
| Chelsea Odds | -275 |
| Leicester City Odds | +750 |
| Draw | +375 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (-175 / +120) |
| Day | Time | Thursday | 3 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | Peacock Premium |
| Odds updated as Thursday afternoon via BetMGM. Get up-to-the-minute soccer odds here. | |
Chelsea and Leicester City know approximately where they'll be finishing in the Premier League league table, but they meet Thursday with an eye toward a momentum-building three point result.
When these teams met at the beginning of the year, it was the Blues thrashed the Foxes, securing an easy 3-0 win when manager Thomas Tuchel and his men were thinking about winning the EPL title.
So, will we see something similar this time around? Let’s take a look.
Chelsea Dealing With FA Cup Sadness
There's no doubt that Chelsea fans will view this season as a lost one after the club failed to do real damage in the Champions League, struggled to contend for the EPL title and lost both domestic cup competitions to Liverpool on penalties.
On Saturday, the final blow for the season was dealt to the Blues as they couldn't get over the line against the Reds for the second time at Wembley Stadium. The hardware would have easily turned the narrative on this Chelsea season, but it wasn't to be.
Liverpool was the better side, mustering 1.69 expected goals versus Chelsea's 1.08 for the match, but in a cup final, you'll almost always have your chances and the losing side didn't take them.
Now, the Blues head into a generally meaningless fixture in the English top flight with that negative feeling present and hard to shake off.
Leicester Bringing Good Form to Fixture
While the Foxes suffered a similar disappointment a few weeks ago when Roma knocked it out of the Conference League semifinal round, they've recovered well with wins over relegation sides Norwich City and Watford.
While those games should typically be victories for a team in the top half of the table, Leicester was gritty in each fixture and converted well on their chances. Despite only 4.84 xG and 3.81 xGA, Leicester scored eight goals and conceded just one overall.
That's certainly over-performing against expected results, but it comes at a time when building positive momentum into next season would be crucial for the Foxes.
Betting Analysis & Pick
Though Chelsea comes into this fixture in a bad state, overrating the impact of that on its actual projected performance wouldn't be wise.
Leicester's two recent victories came in games where the Foxes didn't really deserve the result that they got, and their -0.44 xG/game differential away from home isn't inspiring.
Chelsea hasn't been great at the Bridge recently, but is generally far better than how it has been of late. Its 0.91 xG/game differential at home is still representative of the team on a general level, and Leicester won't get the chances against this team that it had against relegation defenses.
I'll back Chelsea to pick up an emphatic, feel-good victory.
Pick: Chelsea -1.5 (+105)
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