Chelsea, Inter Milan tangle at the International Champions Cup
Chelsea F.C. faces F.C. Internazionale
Milano (Inter Milan) in the first round of the 2013 International
Champions Cup (ICC) set on August 2 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in
Indianapolis, Indiana.
The winner of the Chelsea-Inter Milan match will
advance to the second round and face Round 1 winner Milan, while the
loser clashes with Valencia in the crossover for a shot at the fifth
place.
In a head to head comparison between the two teams, Inter Milan, pegged at *5.00
odds on Bet365 and BetVictor to win Chelsea, appears to have the upper
hand after winning the last two meetings in 2010 in the UEFA Champions
League. Inter Milan won on February 24 at home, 2-1. On March 16,
Chelsea failed on their home stand and yielded again to Inter Milan,
0-1.
The last time Chelsea bested Inter Milan was in 2009 in a club friendly with a 2-0 win at home.
But it appears different this time around. Even with
the head to head favouring Inter Milan, the momentum of Chelsea's string
of recent victories may indicate the quality of play of Chelsea versus
the seemingly slumping Inter Milan. Chelsea, which has made significant
improvements in lieu of the additions made to the team, won its last
three friendlies to rebound from a two game losing skid, while Inter
Milan's last five games were punctuated by a couple of losses and draws
and only a solitary win - at home versus Vicenza on July 22, 2013, with a
3-1 score. Inter Milan was soundly defeated in two of its last three
games in the Italian Serie A, bowing to Lazio, 1-3, on May 8 and
surrendering to Udinese, 2-5, on May 19, both losses happening on Inter
Milan’s home turf.
Chelsea, pegged at *1.76
odds on SBOBET to win Inter Milan, played superb football in their last
three outings, highlighted by their dominance of Indonesia, 1-8, and
Malaysia XI, 1-4. Chelsea's 0-1 escape act versus Thailand All Stars
complete their rout of their rivals for the South East Asia friendlies
which could provide the necessary boost in confidence heading into the
ICC. The wins also arrested the two game skid of Chelsea - both losses
coming from Manchester City, on May 24 and 25 respectively.
With
Jose Mourinho at the helm and with Fernando Torres, Eden Hazard and
Confederations Cup participant Juan Mata leading Chelsea's attack,
Chelsea is poised to put one over Inter Milan.
Chelsea, backstopped by new acquisitions namely Andre
Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel hopes to continue in the ICC the storied
legacy it made for itself back when the tournament was still known as
the World Football Challenge. Chelsea was WFC's inaugural champions
(2009), and this being the first staging of the ICC, it would seem apt
should Chelsea again win the first title of the new tournament.
0 comments:
Post a Comment