Chelsea FC welcome Bayern Munich to Stamford Bridge tomorrow night for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first-leg tie with the Bavarian giants. The last time the Bundesliga powerhouse visited London, well it was the infamous 7-2 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur on October 1.
Don’t expect a result anything close to that on Tuesday, but Frank Lampard definitely has some fitness issues to worry about. He has already confirmed the absence of midfield maestro N’Golo Kante, who was forced out early in the loss to Manchester United, exactly one week ago, due to a groin injury.
The Blues will also be lacking depth on the wings with both Callum Hudson-Odoi (hamstring) and Christian Pulisic (abductor) sidelined here.
With Pulisic, his hip muscle problem had improved recently, until he suffered another set back in recovery. With CHO, a return is near.
“Callum’s out, he’s not far away but not this game.”
Meanwhile the news is better for Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
“Pedro is back in contention having missed Saturday with a small problem,” Lampard said, before providing another update: “Ruben is fit, he’s in the squad.”
Switching over to the visitors, Javi Martinez is now training again after having missed six games due to a muscular injury. However, Niklas Sule (knee) and Ivan Perisic (ankle) are sidelined for this one.
Bayern Munich at Chelsea UEFA Champions League FYIs
February 25, 8 pm, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea FC Starting XI prediction: go to this link
Probabilities via Google: Chelsea FC win 23%, Draw 25%, Bayern Munich win 52%
Prediction: Bayern Munich 2, Chelsea FC 1
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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