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Chelsea will finally look to secure their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League when they take on Valencia at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
The Blues looked to be cruising to the next stage of the competition when Didier Drogba put them ahead in their last tie against Bayer Leverkusen, but two late strikes from the German outfit further added to the pressure being heaped upon manager Andre Villas-Boas as he struggles to turn the form of his side around.
Since then Chelsea have picked up a second loss in ten days against Liverpool but at least got their league campaign back on track with back to back 3-0 wins against Wolves and Chelsea.
Villas-Boas will certainly take heart from his side’s attacking performance against Newcastle, with Juan Mata, who will go up against his former side for the second time since making the switch from the Mastalla to Stamford Bridge over the summer, Daniel Sturridge and Didier Drogba all combining excellently to create a plethora of chances at the Sports Direct Arena.
There was still areas of concern for the former Porto man however as his back line continued to struggle, with David Luiz in particular looking vulnerable and making plenty of mistakes to make the travelling Chelsea support nervous indeed.
Two of Chelsea’s big guns could find themselves on the bench for the game, with Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres both struggling to hold down a place in the starting XI.
Drogba has been in excellent form of late and has been finding the back of the net regularly to keep 50 million pound man Torres on the bench, while Lampard faces a struggle to wrestle his spot back off impressive youngster Oriol Romeu, although Villas-Boas may opt for experience in a game of this magnitude and opt for the England midfielder.
With both sides and Leverkusen separated by just a solitary point in group E, there are various permutations which will put two of the three through and one out in the cold.
Whoever prevails at Stamford Bridge progresses with the losing side finishing third, while a score draw will be enough for Valencia while a goalless result will take Chelsea through unless Leverkusen lose.
Leverkusen are already through even if they lose as they sit one point ahead of the other two, and a draw at Stamford Bridge would mean they go through as group winners.
Match Winner
Despite Chelsea’s recent struggles with form they go into the game as favourites to claim the win and a place in the knockout stages, with Paddy Power offering 1.75 (3/4) on a home win.
Valencia have proved their abilities in recent week, pushed Real Madrid all the way and currently sit in 3rd place in La Liga, and Stan James have them placed at 4.00 (3/1) withPaddy Power to make Chelsea miss the knockout stages. The draw is 3.75 (11/4) with Bet365.
First Goalscorer
With Didier Drogba in excellent form and appears to have his spark of old back, and the Ivorian leads the way in the first goalscorer market alongside in-form partner in crime Daniel Sturridge, who is the Blues top scorer this season.
Roberto Soldado is carving himself a reputation as one of the most in form strikers in Europe and will be a real threat to Chelsea all evening long. He’s 8.00 (7/1) with SportingBet to open the scoring while Aritz Aduriz who has also looked sharp this season is the next best placed Valencia player at 10.00 (9/1) withBet365.
Recommended Bets
First Goalscorer: Roberto Soldado, 8.00 (7/1) SportingBet
Correct score: 1-1 draw 7.50 (13/2) William Hill
