Tuesday marks the start of final round of matches in the group stages in the Champions League and there is still plenty to play for with qualifying positions as well as top spots up for grabs, not least in Group E which sees a make-or-break clash at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea host Valencia.
Bayer Leverkusen have already made sure of their place in the knockout stages with a last-gasp, come-from-behind win over the Blues, which has really piled the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas ahead of a do-or-die clash, particularly with Valencia cruising to a 7-0 win on the same night.
Chelsea do of course have destiny in their own hands, as well as home advantage, and will book a knockout place for the ninth-year running with a victory, which is anticipated in the match betting – Chelsea 8/11, Draw 11/4, Valencia 4/1.
The Blues have never lost to the Spanish outfit in five previous encounters although worryingly for the Blues, both previous meetings at Stamford Bridge have resulted in draws.
A goalless draw would be good enough for Chelsea to progress but a scoring draw will be in favour of Los Che and with Roberto Soldado in fine fettle, the home side will do well to keep tabs on the former Real Madrid striker.
Soldado (13/2 First/Last Goalscorer) scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture, netted a 26-minute hat-trick in the rout of Genk and bagged the winner on Saturday to help Valencia maintain their pursuit of Real and Barcelona in La Liga.
Chelsea certainly have had plenty of defensive problems of late, losing five of the last 10 games and three of the last four at home, but did pick up a morale-boosting 3-0 win over Newcastle at the weekend.
That result was thanks to a large piece of luck as David Luiz somehow escaped a red card early in the game, while Newcastle were denied on a number of occasions by the woodwork.
The change of style under Villas-Boas has exposed the back four so far this season, but they still possess plenty of fire power and on another day might well have wrapped up Saturday’s game long before they did.
Didier Drogba grabbed what is only his third goal of the season last weekend, following on from his goal in Leverkusen, and is 4/1 favourite First/Last Goalscorer, although Daniel Sturridge is in fine form and can be backed at 9/2, and Frank Lampard, the club’s second top goalscorer so far this season, is on offer at 6/1.
It would be amazing to see Fernando Torres in the starting line-up given his form since arriving at Stamford Bridge last January, while he has only scored two goals in eight previous appearances against Valencia – and picked up a red card.
It is hard to see the game being an open attacking shoot out given what is at stake, although an early goal may well shake things up – but Chelsea have the strength to put recent problems behind them and seal a knockout berth.
A win of course may be good enough to see the Blues take top spot in the group (Bayer 1/3, Chelsea 3/1, Valencia 8/1 – Group E Winner) as Bayer would need to achieve what neither Chelsea or Valencia did – and that is win in Genk.
They may have only picked up two points so far in the group but are undefeated at home having held the Spaniards to a goalless draw, and Chelsea 1-1.
Bayer of course, have won all three home games but have yet to pick up even a point on their travels but with the carrot of being group winners to play for, the Germans are strongly fancied at 8/15 in the match betting, with Genk on offer at 11/2 and the draw at 16/5.
That seems a short price on a team that has lost both times on their travels, but they were a little unlucky in Valencia – and now Genk do not even have Europa League qualification to play for.
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