Confirmed Lille side
Lille: Jardim; Djalo, Botman, Fonte, Celik; Xeka, André, Onana; Sanches, David, Bamba
Defending champions Chelsea start their knockout journey this Tuesday at the Stamford Bridge, and they will be eager to fire it off with a win.
They were recently crowned champions of the Club World Cup, and this is certainly going to be a confidence-booster for them.
They are also on a superb streak of performances, and are scoring goals in plenty. And importantly, they have been a problem for visiting teams at the Stamford Bridge all through 2021-22.
Meanwhile, Lille have not had a campaign to remember so far in 2021-22, in any competition. They are actually the title-holders in the French top flight, but this season it’s almost a foregone conclusion now that PSG will be winning the league. Such is their lead.
Lille have also been terribly inconsistent lately, and it also needs to be noted that they have a poor h2h record against this opponent, as well as other EPL teams.
By the looks of things, expect a win for Chelsea this Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel’s men are on a four-fixture winning streak. And at home, barring five draws and a loss, they have a 100% winning record since April of 2021. Note that they had also scored two or more goals in their last six home matches.
On the other hand, Lille were winless in four of their past six games, and they had also remained so in three of their preceding four road trips.
And finally, the French champions have an inferior h2h record against the Blues.
Considering all these observations, expect a win for Chelsea this Tuesday at the Stamford Bridge
Chelsea Team News: Chelsea have some injury concerns over Cesar Azpilicueta and Callum Hudson-Odoi and they might not be available for the Lille Clash however should be fit for Liverpool game over the weekend. Both first choice fullbacks in Ben Chilwell and Reece James are ruled out. Consider Lukaku’s poor performances over the last few weeks, Timo Werner might be called back in the starting lineup.
Lille Team News: Hatem Ben Arfa or Timothy Weah are in contention to start in place of Angel Gomes who will miss the game due to injury. Zeki Celik and Renatio Sanchez should start in midfield making it a very balanced team on paper.
BT Sports Continue their flagship coverage of Champions League in the UK and they will have the live streams on both TV and via their online streaming portals. CBS will have live coverage in the US while SuperSports and beIN Sports will broadcast this game in Africa and Middle-east respectively.
Chelsea take on Lille in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie, welcoming the French champions to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (8pm kick-off, UK time).
The reigning Champions League holders face Les Dogues having met only recently, beating them twice in the 2019/20 groups. Thomas Tuchel will now be looking to follow in Frank Lampard’s footsteps and do the double over the Hauts-de-France side.
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Chelsea predicted XI: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Christensen, Rudiger, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Lukaku, Ziyech. (3-5-2)
Jonathan Bamba and Xeka both missed Lille’s final group game against Wolfsburg through suspension but they return here. Angel Gomes came off in the early stages of the weekend’s draw with Metz, so will likely be unavailable to face Chelsea, meaning his replacement on the day, Timothy Weah, or January signing Hatem Ben Arfa could come into the fold.
Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi are all expected to sit this one out. Cesar Azpilicueta, though, should return here after missing the weekend’s slender 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, as confirmed by Tuchel himself. For full details on Chelsea’s team news against Lille
TV channel: In the UK, the match will be televised live on BT Sport 2 and BT Sport Ultimate, with coverage beginning at 7pm
Chelsea XI (3-4-3): Mendy, Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso, Ziyech, Havertz, Pulisic
Lille: Jardim; Djalo, Botman, Fonte, Celik; Xeka, André, Onana; Sanches, David, Bamba
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