BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Finding it hard to rein-in enthusiasm for Napoli

I’m looking forward to tonight’s Champions League clash between Napoli and Chelsea so much that I feel like a kid in a sweet-shop on ChristmasEve.

Ever since the draw was made I’ve been banging on about
what a great price the Italians are to knock out AVB’s unhappy mob and I can’t resist backing them to win this evening's home leg too .

Chelsea just don’t have the legs any more and they could be further weakened by the return of John Terry from injury.

Sometimes it’s best to take the straightforward option when it comes to football punting.

The Blues couldn’t handle Birmingham’s Wade Elliott and Adam Rooney in the FA Cup on Saturday so how are they going to deal with Napoli’s star man Edinson Cavani?

The simple answer is, they’re not.

Napoli were brilliant at home against Manchester City in the group stages and on Friday they warmed up for this game by purring to a 3-0 win at Fiorentina.

Andthere’s one more factor to consider before lumping on the Serie A side.

I don’t usually read too much into players’ quotes but I was
thrilled to see Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge’s claim that: “We are not a divided unit. We are a family.”

If that family is anything like the Bunters on holiday then by the time Chelsea arrive in Italy Sturridge will have eaten his own body weight in Haribo, David Luiz and Ramires will have come to blows over the PSP and Fernando Torres will have gone AWOL at a service station.

Come to think of it, that might just be the stroke of luck that
Chelsea need.