Chelsea will welcome German outfit Schalke 04 at the Stamford Bridge in the Champions League group stage tie on Wednesday, where a victory would take them one step closer to the next stage of the competition.
The Blues are heading to this match on the backdrop of a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was furious and frustrated with the performance of his team and openly admitted of making changes to the squad.
The Londoners are top of Group E in the Champions League, sharing same points with Schalke. The Germans suffered a 3-0 defeat at home in their last round against the Blues and would be looking for a revenge on Wednesday. Chelsea haven’t lost at home in the league, but they’ve already suffered defeat at the hands of FC Basel in this competition at Stamford Bridge.
Schalke have had a stuttering start to their campaign (1 win in first 5 matches) and are currently lying 6th in the table at the moment. Since October, they’ve picked up their form a bit, winning 4 of their last 6 games. The two games they’ve lost are against Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund (league) but they’ve bounced back strongly in their last game, winning 2-0 against Hertha Berlin.
Chelsea will miss the services of striker Fernando Torres, who gave the impression of returning back to his old form through injury. The Spaniard pulled his muscle in the training and would miss the tie.
Mourinho would make few changes to the squad that faced Newcastle in the weekend. According to reports from several media, the Chelsea boss could drop several star names like David Luiz, Juan Mata, and Ashley Cole while midfielder Frank Lampard could also face the axe.
Prediction: 2-0 in favour of the Blues. Chelsea are 4/11 with Ladbrokes to win against Schalke on Wednesday at the Bridge.
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