CHELSEA'S winning run came shuddering to a shock halt at the weekend but they need to bounce back quickly as Real Madrid come calling in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Like most people, I thought the Blues would see off Brentford comfortably at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and make it seven wins in a row. Instead they self-destructed after Antonio Rudiger's opener and crashed to a 4-1 defeat.
Shipping four goals at home was out of character for a side who had kept six clean sheets in their previous nine games so it will be interesting to see what kind of a reaction Thomas Tuchel gets from his players here.
The defence of their European crown has been pretty decent so far, with a defeat to Juventus and a draw at Zenit the only blips in their group stage campaign.
Lille were defeated home and away in the last 16 but Real Madrid will provide a stiffer test after an epic comeback against PSG at the Bernabeu booked their place in the last eight.
Carlo Ancelotti's men are on course for the La Liga title but have looked unconvincing at times, most notably when thrashed by Barcelona in the recent Clasico.
PSG also outplayed them for most of the two legs in the last 16 so the Bernabeu giants will need to up their game to end Chelsea's reign as kings of Europe.
How the bookies view it
I'm surprised to see Chelsea as big as 11/10 with SBK for a home win and that looks good value given Real Madrid haven't been that impressive this season. Ancelotti's side are 3/1 with the same firm while the draw pays 49/20 at Unibet. If you fancy an early punt on who makes the semi-final, Chelsea are 8/9 at VBet and Real Madrid 21/20 at William Hill.
Head to head
Chelsea have an excellent record against Real Madrid and have yet to lose across their five encounters, with three wins and two draws. They faced off in last season's semi-final and the Blues won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge (below) after a 1-1 stalemate in Spain.
Players to watch
Tuchel has usually played Kai Havertz up front in the big games this season and the German has 14 goals for club and country this season. He netted at home in the win over Lille and is 43/20 with Unibet for another strike here.
It's hard to look past Karim Benzema for a Real Madrid goal after his incredible hat-trick dumped PSG and brought up my scorer bet. The Frenchman is 28/13 with SBK for anytime scorer in London.
Anything else catch the eye?
Both managers can be pragmatic in big games so I'd be surprised if we saw a thriller. Betting against BTTS pays 19/20 at SportNation while under 2.5 goals is shorter at 13/17 with the same firm. I also like the half-time draw and that pays 11/10 with Bet365.
Unibet always have interesting bets for player stats and I like the look of the 17/10 they are offering on Thiago Silva committing over 0.5 fouls.
This UEFA Champions League match between Chelsea and Real Madrid will be played on Apr 6, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Chelsea vs Real Madrid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
