Bet on Chelsea Securing league and Cup Double in Ancelotti's First Season

It's safe to assume that Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea's unassuming manager, is likely to win the League and Cup double in his first season.

The Blues are finally stepping out of the shadow cast by their flamboyant former manager, José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho, who won six trophies for the club in three years. Of course, whether chariman Roman Abramovich was right to axe Mourinho us still very much open to debate. The self-styled Special One has already bagged the domestic cup with Inter Milan, is in pole position to win the Italian title and can top all that off by adding the Champions League to his ever expanding accumulation of silverware.

If Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich, Jose Mourinho will have coached more Champions League winners than I've backed.

The former Porto and Chelsea boss revealed that his masterplan in Barcelona was to keep giving the ball away. "We didn't want the ball because when Barcelona press and win the ball back we lose our position so I didn't want us to have the ball. We gave it away," he said. Hull manager Iain Dowie was later overheard telling his chairman: "See? I told you so."


Inter are now 8-15 favourites with Hills to win the Champions League, with Bayern Munich 8-5. Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium is the venue for the final and the Bernabeu is where Mourinho is heading long-term, say Bet365, who makes the Spanish giants 8-11 favourites to be Jose's next club.

On the face of it Chelsea only need to turn up at Wembley to win, don't they? Fresh from winning the league, Ancelotti's men have finished with something of a flourish. They've scored seven goals on three occasions this season and rounded off the campaign by putting eight past Wigan last Sunday, although the first goal looked offside to me. History could have been oh so different if that goal was disallowed. Chelsea have already done the double over Pompey this season en route to becoming the first team to surpass scoring 100 goals in the Premier League. Pomepy, er, finished bottom.

When he was with Chelsea, Avram Grant finished second in the Premier League and runner-up in the Champions League but was deemed a failure. This season Pompey have had four owners, late wages, a transfer ban, administration, a nine-point deduction and relegation and he's hailed as a hero.

Everybody is now pleading with Avram to stay, the players, the chairman, the administrators and the local massage parlour owners.

Is reaching the FA Cup Final really such a big deal these days? Less fashionable clubs get there frequently: Cardiff (2008), West Ham (2006) Millwall (2004) and Southampton (2003) all had their day in the sun. Among all those teams that made it to the final only Cardiff's Dave Jones has managed to retain the manager's chair.

Jamie O'Hara spoke openly of the turbulent season Pompey have endured. He said, "Quincy (Owusu-Aabeyie) came in, did fantastic and was gone. I came in one day and said: 'Where's Quincy?'. They said: 'Oh, he's gone to Qatar'." Probably to solve a murder mystery. That's the kind of tumultuous season Pompey have endured and that's why West Ham's owners are trying to tempt Avram to Upton Park. If he can put up with that he can surely withstand their constant meddling.

Avram was 10-11 with bet365 to become the next manager of West Ham but surely he won't make any announcement until after his Wembley date. That's for the Cup final not for a massage.

Chelsea are generally available at 1-8 to win the FA Cup outright or 1-5 to do so inside 90 minutes. Pompey are a best-priced 14-1 (Victor Chandler) to win without needing to go to extra time and 6-1 (Hills) outright.

I can't see anything other than a Chelsea victory on Saturday. It would be a fairytale ending to the season if Pompey won but I don't believe in fairies ... anymore.

The best value bet may well lie in Frank Lampard to open the scoring at 4-1 with Ladbrokes. Fat Frank scored seven more goals than any other midfielder in the league (22) this season. He scored the winner against Everton in last season's final and is the man charged with the responsibility of taking the spot kicks.

TOP TIP: FRANK LAMPARD TO SCORE THE FIRST GOAL (4-1 WITH LADBROKES)