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Chelsea will look to put their Premier League woes to one side and go in search of cementing their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League when they take on Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.
The Blues looked to have put their poor form in the top tier of English football behind them with a morale boosting 1-0 win over Blackburn before the international break, but succumbed to a 2-1 home defeat against Liverpool to once more raise questions over Andre Villas Boas’ men.
That defeat has left Chelsea 12 points off league leaders Manchester City, leaving their title hopes hanging by a thread already.
While the Premier League has been a source of constant misery for the former Porto manager, the Champions League has offered a respite, and now they’ll hope to take a giant leap towards qualification for the next round and prove a few doubters wrong to boot with a solid performance and three points to boot at the BayArena on Wednesday.
The Blues got their campaign in Europe up and running with a bang against Leverkusen in September, with goals from David Luiz and Juan Mata finding the net at Stamford Bridge to give Chelsea the best possible start.
The game should be an emotional one for former Blues midfielder Michael Ballack, with the German international going up against his former club of four years, although he is unlikely to get a start having revealed earlier this week that he is set to leave Leverkusen at the end of the season.
Fernando Torres will likely command most of the limelight on Wednesday having found himself on the bench for the match against his former club on Sunday, with the Spaniards goalscoring exploits – or lack thereof, continuing to fill newspaper inches.
Didier Drogba got the nod ahead of Torres at Stamford Bridge on Sunday but Villas Boas may opt to give Torres the chance to prove his worth and use his pace to stretch the Leverkusen defence.
Leverkusen currently sit in 7th in the Bundesliga and go into the game on Wednesday off the back of a morale boosting 2-0 win away against Kaiserslautern, and the German side will no doubt look to upset the odds and secure a surprise win against their illustrious English opponents.
Leverkusen are two points behind Chelsea in group E and a win for the home side would well and truly throw the cat amongst the pigeons and throw the blues qualification into doubt.
Match Winner
The blues are odds on favourites to emerge from the game with a crucial three points, with Bet365 offering odds of 11/10 on an away win that boss Andre Villas Boas so desperately needs.
Leverkusen have acquitted themselves well in Europe this season and should provide a stern test for the visitors especially in front of a fiercely passionate partisan home crowd, and BoyleSports offer of 3.80 (14/5) is certainly worth thinking about given Chelsea’s indifferent recent form.
The draw is 3.40 (12/5) with Paddy Power
Correct Goalscorer
While Chelsea have been finding the net regularly they have look increasingly vulnerable at the back, shipping more goals already than in Jose Mourinho’s entire first season in charge back in 2004/05.
The 1-1 draw is the favoured scoreline of the bookmakers, with @ Ladbrokes the pick of the lot having placed the scoreline at 7.00 (6/1).
For a repeat scoreline of the last time the two teams met Bet365 offer the best odds at 9.50 (17/2), while if you fancy the home side to upset the odds, Ladbrokes offer of 15.00 (14/1) on a Leverkusen 2-1 win is very tempting.
Recommended bets
First goalscorer: Daniel Sturridge, 7.00 (6/1) VC Bet
Correct score: 0-0, 11.00 (10/1) @ SkyBet
