Chelsea FC had a brutal return to competition after the international break, getting pounded by lowly West Bromwich Albion, 5-2. Christian Pulisic opened the scoring, to end his season long slump, but he got injured again, and the Blues lead in that match was short lived.
Now they’ll visit FC Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie. Let’s preview!
Chelsea at FC Porto UCL Quarterfinal Leg 1/2 FYIs
Kickoff: Wed April 7, 8pm, Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go here
Head to Head: Chelsea win -140 Draw +250 FC Porto Win +430
Odds: Chelsea win 5 Draw 2 FC Porto Win 1
Fast Fact: Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in 6 of their last 8 matches (Champions League)
Team News for Both Sides
Pulisic didn’t come out for the second half, because manager Thomas Tuchel said the winger’s hamstring would not have survived another 45 minutes plus of play. While details of the situation haven’t been made public, it sounds like this issue was more precautionary in nature.
That said, it’s hard to imagine Pulisic will be rushed back to action and risked in this one. Tuchel has already ruled out midfielder N’Golo Kante for this one due to injury, and striker Tammy Abraham is an injury doubt as well. For Porto, Malang Sarr wasn’t likely to play in this one anyway, but by rule he cannot as that would violate the terms in his loan agreement.
Also for Porto, Mehdi Taremi is suspended, while Ivan Marcano and Sergio Oliveira are both out injured.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, 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,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.