Chelsea
travel to Gelsenkirchen to take on Schalke on Tuesday night looking for the
win that will confirm top spot in Group G.
However, it could be an emotional evening for the west London club as they
come face to face with former manager Roberto Di Matteo, who replaced Jens
Keller in the dugout at the Veltins-Arena in October, for the first time
since the popular Italian guided the Blues to their maiden Champions League
triumph in May 2012.
The Bundesliga outfit are in urgent need of the points themselves though in
their bid to make it through to the knockout phase of Europe’s premier club
competition in February.
And yet with 10 wins and just five losses from their last 20 European home
games, Di Matteo and Co will be confident of keeping hold of second spot
come the full-time whistle on Tuesday.
But Schalke also know that Jose Mourinho’s side are one of the continent’s
in-form teams having won 14 of the 18 matches they have played so far this
season, with their last defeat in any competition coming in April's
semi-final defeat to Atletico Madrid.
The visitors also arrive in Germany with two Spain internationals currently
playing at the peak of their powers in the form of striker Diego Costa and
midfielder Cesc Fabregas. The former netted his 11th Premier League goal of
the campaign in Saturday’s 2-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion, while the
latter has managed to register an eye-catching 10 assists in just 12
top-flight encounters since joining Chelsea from Barcelona this summer.
Team news
The home team will still be without influential midfielder Julian Draxler
for this encounter after the young Germany international suffered a serious
thigh injury against Augsburg last month.
Meanwhile, Sead Kolasinac and Jefferson Farfan are also both out of
contention for the visit of Chelsea due to long-term knee problems, and
Fabian Giefer is also unlikely to feature due to an hip injury.
As for Chelsea, Mourinho has no new injury problems to contend with for the
trip to Germany, with France frontman Loic Remy having now fully recovered
from the groin strain he picked up scoring against Maribor on Matchday 3.
Opta Facts
Chelsea are unbeaten against Schalke. They’ve met five times in the
Champions League, with the Blues winning three games and drawing two.
Schalke have scored only once in their five games against Chelsea. They’ve
conceded nine goals in the process.
Schalke have only won one of five home matches against an English team (two
draws, two losses) in the CL.
Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in nine of their last 15 Champions League
games.
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