Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has been stressing the importance of Chelsea securing their place in the knockout phase of the Champions League this week.
The Blues currently sit top of their group and have two matches to play but a win over Schalke would be good enough. That would give them the luxury of playing a dead rubber against Sporting Lisbon in their final match, something that Mourinho would greatly appreciate with the Christmas fixture list looming.
Chelsea have dominated the early part of the season in the Premier League, so much so that bookmakers Paddy Power have already paid out on them winning the title! That may be a little premature but you certainly cannot take anything for granted in the Champions League.
Schalke grabbed an unlikely point in the reverse fixture on a night when Chelsea failed to take a string of opportunities to move into a two-goal lead. Schalke’s class players on the night were the scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and the provider Julian Draxler. The loss of Draxler for this match will be a severe blow to Schalke as he looked dangerous throughout at Stamford Bridge.
Schalke are now managed by former Chelsea player and coach Roberto Di Matteo who took in October. No Chelsea fan will ever forget Di Matteo’s relatively short spell in charge, winning the FA Cup and a first ever Champions League for the Blues. He has only been at Schalke for six weeks so it is ironic that he comes face to face with Chelsea so quickly. The German side are currently second in the group but vulnerable with Sporting Lisbon just one point behind them.
Chelsea remain unbeaten in all competitions despite a scare at Maribor in their last group match. In the end, they could and should have won the game but Eden Hazard uncharacteristically fluffed his penalty kick. I don’t expect Chelsea to treat this game with anything less than full commitment and that has so far proved more than enough for most teams. If anything, the Blues have looked sharper away than they have at home.
The speed with which Hazard and Willian launch their counter-attacks is breath-taking but the decisive factor has to be Diego Costa. There has been much debate about his fitness in recent weeks but he looked sharp against West Brom on Saturday and looks tempting at around the 4-1 mark to open the scoring. Backing Costa and Chelsea to win has been a winning formula this season and could easily be the answer again on Tuesday.
Diego Costa to score first @4-1 Paddy Power
Diego Costa to score and Chelsea to win @19-10 Ladbrokes
Chelsea to win by one goal @11-4 Skybet
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
