BAKU: Chelsea are expected to face an easy task against Qarabag in the Champions League in Baku tomorrow (early Thursday morning).
Both teams have now collected six points from three matches, making this clash at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium crucial in the fight for a place in the knockout round.
After defeating Benfica and FC Copenhagen in the first two matches, Qarabag’s perfect run came to an end on October 22 when they lost 3-1 to Athletic Bilbao.
Leandro Andrade’s early goal gave hope to Gurban Gurbanov’s squad, but two goals from Gorka Guruzeta and another from Robert Navarro capped their brilliant night.
That was Qarabag’s only defeat in their last 11 matches in all competitions, giving them confidence to face Chelsea.
However, history has not been on the Azerbaijani club’s side – they have lost twice to Chelsea by an aggregate score of 10-0.
Chelsea returned to Azerbaijan for the first time since winning the 2019 Europa League after defeating Arsenal 4-1 in Baku.
Enzo Maresca’s side are currently in top form, after a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend – their sixth win in their last seven matches in all competitions.
In the European campaign, they bounced back from an opening defeat to Bayern Munich with consecutive wins over Benfica and Ajax.
With a big clash against Barcelona coming up later this month, victory in Baku is crucial to ensure the pressure on the group leaders remains high.
Interestingly, Chelsea have scored the opening goal in eight consecutive matches, while Qarabag have only failed to open the scoring twice during the same period.
Chelsea are without defender Levi Colwill for the rest of the season, while Benoit Badiashile is also sidelined with a muscle injury.
Cole Palmer has not returned to action since September 20 due to a groin injury, while Dario Essugo has not made an appearance this season after suffering a thigh injury while with Portugal Under-21.
For Qarabag, Abdellah Zoubir is the main backup after scoring four goals in the last seven matches. Jonathan Montiel, who has just recovered from injury, is expected to start on the bench.
Expected starting lineup:
Qarabag (4-2-3-1): Kochalski; Cafarquliyev, Medina, Mustafazada, Matheus; Borges, Bicalho; Zoubir, Andrade, Duran; Akhundzade.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Cucurella, Chalobah, Acheampong, Gusto; Caicedo, Lavia; Gittens, Enzo, Estevao; Peter.