Chelsea are unbeaten so far this season, but one result was below expectations: the 1-1 home draw with Schalke 04 in the first Champions League group match. Now the Blues have to make amends when they travel to Lisbon to face Sporting on Tuesday evening. The Portuguese side were also held to a 1-1 draw in the first match by NK Maribor, a disappointing result for them as well.
Star striker Diego Costa, who has already bagged eight goals in the Premier League this season, will most likely miss out on Tuesday as he is struggling with a hamstring problem. Either Didier Drogba or Loic Remy will take his place while Andre Schurrle will probably be in the starting eleven instead of Ramires who has a muscular issue.
Sporting should once again rely on Manchester United loanee Nani, he scored the goal against Maribor, while Jonathan Silva should be the first-choice left back. Sporting are unbeaten in seven matches so far this season, but no less than five of them were 1-1 draws. There are no previous meetings between the two sides but it's worth mentioning that Chelsea won both their last matches in Portugal.
Probable starting line-ups:
Sporting: Patricio - J Silva, Cedric, Sarr, Mauricio - Nani, Carvalho, A Silva, Mario - Slimani, Carrillo
Chelsea: Courtois - Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic - Matic, Fabregas - Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle - Remy
My prediction: Chelsea to win 1-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Sporting win - 9/2 Draw - 14/5 Chelsea win - 8/11
Snoop 9 years ago
Well, Sporting have no chances here, Chelsea is playing great football, they are currently the best team in Europe, Mourinho is doing great job, they are one of favourites for title, Sporting is not so strong, they always must sell their best players, every year they must play with some new talents, it's hard to build team...
Well, Sporting have no chances here, Chelsea is playing great football, they are currently the best team in Europe, Mourinho is doing great job, they are one of favourites for title, Sporting is not so strong, they always must sell their best players, every year they must play with some new talents, it's hard to build team when your best players are leaving the team... Everything except victory of Chelsea will be suprise for me...
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cris1285 9 years ago
Sporting is not a bad team at all. If Chelsea do not take them seriously, can be a surprising draw. Like last year when Chelsea was not the best in the group stage. They showed the same against Schalke.
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