AVB 1-2 in sack race as Chelsea suffer stalemate
THE pressure was increased on Andre Villas-Boas on Saturday as his freefalling Chelsea team were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham in the FA Cup fifth round at Stamford Bridge.
Ladbrokes reacted by quoting the former Porto boss at 1-2 in the Premier League sack race and he would have been much shorter but for Daniel Sturridge’s second-half equaliser which cancelled out David Murphy’s shock opener.
Juan Mata also saw his penalty saved on a miserable afternoon for anyone who backed the 1-3 favourites, although Chelsea are still expected to qualify for the semi-finals – they are 2-5 to
come through the replay while Birmingham are 2-1.
Hills go 7-2 that Villas-Boas, who denied rumours that substitute Didier Drogba gave the half-time team talk, is gone before the replay and he was clearly not happy afterwards.
He said: “We were not good enough. We were better in the second half but not enough to win the game – it’s never satisfying when you draw at home to a Championship team.”
The Blues, 5-1 to win the FA Cup, now face a massive test away to Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday with injured captain John Terry rated 50-50 to be fit for the first leg.
At least Chelsea are still in the FA Cup draw, unlike London rivals Arsenal, who crashed out of the competition with a 2-0 defeat at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
Kieran Richardson broke the deadlock just before the half-time interval and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s own goal put the Gunners on the scrapheap alongside fellow big boys Manchester United and Manchester City.
Bet365 reacted by making Arsenal skipper Robin van Persie 9-4 to start next season at the club.
Sunderland, 50-1 on third-round day, were tipped by many as dangerous outsiders ante-post and Martin O’Neill’s resurgent side are 6-1 to win the FA Cup.
Leicester caused a minor upset by beating Norwich 2-1 at Carrow Road.
The Foxes, best at 100-30, have underperformed in the Championship this season but goals from Sean St Ledger and David Nugent put Nigel Pearson’s outfit into Sunday’s draw.
There were no such shocks elsewhere in the FA Cup with Bolton and Everton coming through against Championship clubs Millwall and Blackpool.
Bolton won 2-0 at the Den with goals from Ryo Miyaichi and David Ngog, while Everton triumphed over Blackpool by the same margin at Goodison Park.
Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi were on target for the Toffees, who are 7-1 to go all the way in the FA Cup, and Bolton are 20-1.
Tottenham, who head to Stevenage on Sunday, are rated clear outright favourites at 5-2.
Leeds are 12-1 with bet365 to be promoted to the Premier League this season after appointing Neil Warnock as manager until the end of the 2012-13 campaign.
Warnock replaced Simon Grayson in the Elland Road hotseat, although he watched from the stands as Neil Redfearn took charge of team affairs for a dramatic 3-2 triumph over Doncaster.
Leeds are tenth in the Championship, three points outside the play-off positions, with Southampton the new leaders after thrashing Derby 4-0 at St Mary’s. Saints are 3-1 with BetVictor to finish as champions.
Warnock had been linked with the vacancy at Wolves but Steve Bruce was 4-6 favourite for the Molineux post on Saturday night.
Long-time favourite Alan Curbishley took a dramatic drift in the market and at one stage touched 36 on Betfair having been matched at a low of 1.42. However, Curbs was back into 7-2 with bet365.
