Chelsea FC begins the final evening of UEFA Champions League play still in need of booking passage through to the knockout round. They currently sit in third place in Group H behind table toppers Ajax and Valencia. Level on points with the La Liga side, they’ll need to secure all three points, do so in very convincing fashion and hope that one of the two teams ahead of them drop points.
The good news is their final UCL group stage match is against the bottom side, Lille, at home. In other words, they have the easiest match, at least on paper, for winning and racking up the goal differential. In terms of team updates, manager Frank Lampard provided some mixed news today.
Frank Lampard reports that Toni Rudiger is in the squad for tomorrow. Fikayo Tomori is out with a small hip strain and Olivier Giroud is out injured too.#CHELOSC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 9, 2019
Central defender Antonio Rudiger is back, having recovered from a groin injury, but given his long injury layoff, expect him to begin the match on the substitutes’ bench.
There is bad news too though, as defender Fikayo Tomori and striker Olivier Giroud will both miss out due to injury. This match might provide a chance to face an ex-Chelsea player in attacker Loic Remy, who will be on the Lille bench.
Elsewhere, team captain Adama Soumaoro has been out for a month due to a thigh issue. Defender Reinildo has missed the last two games due to an ankle injury. Having not won a single game in group stage play, and sporting a -9 goal differential, Lille has strongly tipped to lose here.
Chelsea FC vs Lille UCL Group Stage FYIs
Chelsea starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: Dec. 10, 8pm Stamford Bridge
Form Guide: Chelsea- DDWWL Lille- LLDLL
Google’s result probability: 80% Chelsea win, 14% draw, 6% Lille victory
Prediction: Chelsea 3, Lille 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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