Tuesday, December 8
Stamford Bridge
7.45 pm Kick Off
Chelsea will look to pick up the pieces of their rain sodden Premier League defeat against Manchester City at Eastlands on Saturday, as they head back to the comfort of Stamford Bridge. The Champions League is upon the Blues again, and this final group match is somewhat of a formality with Chelsea already having clinched top spot in Group D from Porto. Chelsea were devastated when midfield dynamo Frank Lampard missed a late penalty against City, which saw them suffer their third away defeat of this year’s campaign, and allowed Manchester United to close within two points of them. Not a great week in Chelsea’s books, after losing to Blackburn in the Carling Cup midweek.
Boss Carlo Ancelotti, while knowing that the pressure is off in Tuesday’s game against APOEL, he will still demand the utmost level of performance from his players. Cypriot side APOEL could, with a win, beat Atletico Madrid into third place in the Group, which would mean that they would enter into the Europa League. They will still have an uphill task though, as Chelsea have a 100% record at home this season, and still have the most watertight defence in both the Premier League and the Champions League. Chelsea have conceded as many goals as APOEL have scored in the Champions League this season, and that is two.
The Blues are already marching on to the next round of the competition, after Anelka clinched the winning goal in the crucial game against Porto on Match Day 5. Now Ancelotti will have to ensure his men put in a better performance than they did in the reverse fixture against APOEL, when they got complacent and laboured their way to a 1-0 victory. Chelsea lost striker Salomon Kalou in Wednesday’s defeat against Blackburn, and he will be missing now from action for a couple of weeks. Chelsea also saw John Terry limp off late in the game against Manchester City with a knock on the knee, but he should be back in action.
APEOL saw their eight game winning streak broken in their domestic league on the weekend, when they tied 1-1. Draws are the only thing they have managed in the Champions League so far though, and that’s just two of them. The gulf in class between the two teams should be evident at Stamford Bridge. On that note, Michael Ballack, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba have all been short listed for the FIFA World Player of the Year, which is a firm indicator of the quality in Chelsea’s squad.
Chelsea to win: 4/11 at Blue Square
Draw: 9/2 at SkyBet
APOEL to win: 9/1 at Bet365
Betting Advice: This is a meaningless game, unless APOEL somehow musters up a host of quality to give Chelsea a real game. That is very unlikely and Chelsea will be keen to get back into winning ways. They need to shake that monkey off their back, and get back into the run of things which saw them keep five clean sheets in a row.
Chelsea to win to nil: Evens at Blue Square
