Chelsea FC registered a very eye-popping 6-0 result over Qarabag FK back in September at home, but the Azerbaijani team have actually improved a lot since then. They registered two draws in their past two UEFA Champions League Group C contests, both against Atletico Madrid.
Three points for the Blues at the Baku Olympic Stadium tomorrow night confirms their passage through to the final 16 of the competition. Should Atletico fail to beat AS Roma however, then a draw here would be enough to officially punch their ticket to the knockout round.
Last season Antonio Conte switched his formation to a 3-4-3, and then a record setting hot streak began. The Blues saw their season take off right after the tactical switch and they never looked back, running way with the Premier League title.
Only will time tell how the formation switch impacts this season’s results in the long term, but Conte is at it again, changing his side to a 3-5-2. So far, it’s been dominant as Chelsea routed West Bromwich Albion 4-0 over the weekend, to give the Blues back to back clean sheets for the first time this season (the first result was the 1-0 winner over Manchester United on November 5).
The Italian is very proud of the switch he made, and the early returns thus far.
With the festive period on its way, and fixture congestion drawing near, expect Conte to make some changes from his usual side for this one.
Go here for the Chelsea FC injury report for this match.
Chelsea FC starting XI Prediction:
Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Gary Cahill; Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater, N’Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Alvaro Morata, Eden Hazard
Champions League odds: Chelsea FC 10/29, draw 19/4, Qarabag FK 11/1
Prediction: Chelsea FC 3, Qarabag 0
As always, feel free to post your own Chelsea FC starting XI and match score predictions in the comments section.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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