Depending on who you listen to, Chelsea are in crisis, manager Carlo Ancelotti is about to walk out and the Stamford Bridge walls are crumbling around Roman Abramovich – OK maybe the last bit is exaggerated, but all is not well in west London.
However, the Blues are 1/7 favourites in the match betting to see off MSK Zilina in the Champions League on Tuesday and the stats back up such short odds.
Ancelotti’s men have won four out of four in Group F to guarantee progression while they are all but assured of top spot as they lie six points clear of both Spartak Moscow and Marseille, with two games to go.
Zilina, by contrast, have a 100 per cent losing record and have managed just one goal in those four defeats, while they are coming into the match on the back of a record 7-0 home drubbing against Marseille in the last round of matches.
The one goal the Slovakian outfit have scored did come against Chelsea but not before the English champions had surged into a 4-0 lead, with Nicolas Anelka scoring twice.
Chelsea might already have booked their progress but after losing three of their last four domestic matches, scoring just one goal, they will be looking to make a point in front of their own fans and guarantee top spot before making a tricky trip to Marseille.
The Blues have now gone 22 games unbeaten in the group stages of the competition, winning 16 with six draws, while they have amassed 40 goals and conceded only seven.
Chelsea have the power to put this game to bed by half-time as they did in Slovakia (2/5 in the Half-Time/Full-Time market) while Anelka (9/4 first goalscorer), who has scored five times already in the competition, could set them on their way.
The other game in the group sees the two sides battling for qualification along with Chelsea go head to head at the Luzhniki Stadium as Spartak Moscow entertain Marseille.
The French outfit of course smashed seven past Zilina last time out and have a decent record in Russia, having lost just two of six games, but they were beaten 1-0 at home by Spartak (6/4 in the match betting) on matchday one and have lost seven of the last 10 Champions League away matches, and the home side should just have the edge.
Arsenal’s 100 per cent start to the campaign, in which they scored 14 goals, came undone at Shakhtar Donetsk last time out but having smashed six past Braga at the Emirates on matchday one, they look good value at 5/6 to seal their progression.
The other game in Group H sees Shakhtar Donetsk travel to Serbia and with qualification, and even top spot, to play for the Ukrainian outfit (4/6 to win) should be fully motivated to secure the points against winless Partizan Belgrade.
Real Madrid are on fire this season and remain unbeaten under Jose Mourinho in all competitions, albeit through an injury-time equaliser against AC Milan at the San Siro last time out.
In truth, los Merengues should have wrapped up the game inside the first half, while Filippo Inzaghi’s equaliser was offside, and with the potent frontline they possess, Real (5/4 in the match betting) should secure top spot with a win in Amsterdam.
All three sides below Real still have a chance of qualifying and Auxerre look good value at 12/5 to make home advantage count against a Milan side that has not won either away match to date and may just adopt a defensive strategy to try and avoid being beaten.
Roma have the greater need when they entertain Bayern Munich on Tuesday night as they are from certain of making the knockout stages, whereas the Germans have booked their place with plenty to spare after winning their first four games.
The Giallorossi (5/6 favourites in the match betting) will be looking to avenge a 2-0 defeat earlier in the campaign and have won nine of their last 11 home games in UEFA competition, while Bayern might prefer to focus on domestic matters after a disappointing start to their Bundesliga campaign.
Something has to give in Tuesday’s other fixture as FC Basel have lost both home matches, while CFR Cluj have been beaten twice on their travels and given the fact that Cluj won the reverse fixture 2-1 earlier in the campaign, there may be some value in taking the 9/2 on offer.
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