Chelsea vs Lille, prediction & line up. Chelsea continue the defence of their Champions League crown when Lille visit Stamford Bridge for the main leg of their keep going 16 fight on Tuesday night.
Chelsea vs Lille: The Blues could complete second in Group H to set up a bind with the Ligue 1 bosses, who beat the rankings in the firmly battled Group G.
The defending champs completing second in the gathering stages is not really the best formula for progress, yet Chelsea were serenely through to the knockout rounds eventually, regardless of whether Zenit St Petersburg hold Thomas Tuchel’s side to an exhilarating 3-3 draw on the last matchday.
Following up their European accomplishment by becoming title holders recently, the outcomes have been there for Chelsea – at present on a five-game series of wins across all competitions – however the exhibitions not really.
Tuchel’s men were baffled for enormous times of their standoff with Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, and it took until the 89th moment to sack the extremely significant objective through Hakim Ziyech, who had recently had one prohibited at Selhurst Park.
The Blues are absolutely not considered one of the top choices to go as far as possible in this season’s Champions League – particularly with their disturbing record of four back to back last-16 ways out prior to winning the 2021 release – however they are no more odd to opposing assumption.
Little has changed in the method of Chelsea’s home structure at the stronghold that is Stamford Bridge, with the Blues winning their last four Champions League games on home soil without yielding an objective, and not since September have Tuchel’s men endured rout of any sort on their own turf.
Procedures could scarcely have begun more awful for Lille continentally and locally under Jocelyn Gourvennec, who saw his side take only two focuses from their initial three conflicts in Group G as an early exit seemed unavoidable.
Be that as it may, Les Dogues turned up the hotness in their last triplet of matches to record progressive successes over Sevilla, Red Bull Salzburg and Wolfsburg to tempest to the highest point of the rankings and make the last-16, with Jonathan David obviously driving the charge to the knockout rounds.
The vacillating heroes are as yet complimenting to delude in Ligue 1, however, as they were held to a goalless draw by assignment up-and-comers Metz on Friday evening and travel to the English capital having won only two of their last seven matches in all competitions.
Gourvennec immediately got over any worries regarding what the 0-0 draw could mean for Tuesday’s down, however they have not gotten a spotless sheet far from home in the Champions League beginning around 2014, and Les Dogues will unquestionably have the longshots name for this first-leg tie.
Lille have just at any point arrived at the last-16 of the Champions League on one past event – going down to Manchester United in the 2006-07 version – and they experienced consecutive 2-1 losses to Chelsea in the gathering phase of the 2019-20 competition.
Chelsea playmaker Mason Mount is as yet battling with lower leg harm however has a remote possibility of being accessible close by Cesar Azpilicueta, in spite of the fact that there is less good faith over Callum Hudson-Odoi’s condition.
Ben Chilwell keeps on recovering from his overwhelming ACL injury as Reece James moves forward his recuperation from a hamstring issue, yet the right-back won’t be accessible for the principal leg subsequent to getting influenza.
One more unacceptable execution from Romelu Lukaku at the end of the week could lead Tuchel to think about a review for Timo Werner, and Marcos Alonso ought to likewise make his re-visitation of the primary XI in the wake of helping Ziyech’s late victor against Palace.
Concerning Lille, Angel Gomes must be removed after only 27 minutes against Metz with a calf issue, so the entryway is open for Hatem Ben Arfa or Timothy Weah to begin at Stamford Bridge.
Edon Zhegrova’s red card at the end of the week makes next to no difference for this game except for he is probably not going to begin regardless, while Jose Fonte and Burak Yilmaz will miss the subsequent leg assuming that they are reserved here.
Gourvennec will definitely consider presenting Renato Sanches from the principal whistle instead of Xeka, and Zeki Celik should dislodge Tiago Djalo at right-back in the wake of serving a homegrown suspension.
Chelsea conceivable line up:
Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Ziyech, Havertz; Werner
Lille conceivable line up:
Jardim; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Gudmundsson; Weah, Andre, Sanches, Bamba; David, Yilmaz
Chelsea vs Lille
Over 2.5 Goals
Over 20.5 Free Kicks
Over 5.5 Corner Kicks
