On a CBS Sports/Paramount+ Champions League press call, late last week, the network’s announcers and pundits were asked by a reporter about Chelsea’s chances of repeating as European champions. The answers centered the addition of Romelu Lukaku, and what he adds to the side.
Chelsea will always be ne of the strongest teams,” said Jamie Carragher. “Because I think their model of recruitment is one of the best in European football, in terms of the money they generate in selling players. (the sale of) Eden Hazard is the reason they spent so much money, not this summer but last summer, bringing players in, (including) Kai Havertz who got the winning goal (in the UCL final).”
Chelsea FC vs Zenit St. Petersburg Champions League Group Stage FYIs
Kickoff: Tue Sept 14, Stamford Bridge, 8pm
Chelsea UCL Title Prospects Analysis: go here
Chelsea Team news: go here
TV/Streaming: BT Sport, Paramount+
Odds: Chelsea win: 1/6 Draw: 11/2 Zenit win: 16/1
Carragher continued in on Big Rom being the missing piece:
“They concentrated on the one area of weakness, that was center forward, and they rectified that with one of the top goal scorers in European football.
“Certainly his start that he’s had to the Premier League, it looks like he can now have that impact on the Champions League that he hasn’t had yet in his career.”
Obviously, Lukaku will get a first team nod here- let’s look at who else will be in the first eleven.
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction vs Zenit St. Petersburg (UCL)
Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso; Havertz, Lukaku, Mount
Prediction: Chelsea 3, Zenit St. Petersburg 0
You’ve seen the form that the west London side are in currently in…and thus they should almost certainly cruise in this one.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “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 and the Chicago Tribune.
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