Chelsea will look to make it three consecutive wins in the Champions League on Wednesday night as they travel to Baku to face surprise package Qarabag.
Enzo Maresca’s men suffered a 3-1 defeat away at in-form Bayern on their return to the Champions League, but have since followed that up with back-to-back victories at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues defeated Benfica by a goal to nil, before thrashing 10-man Ajax 5-1 to move up into 11th in the league phase table.
Chelsea come into this clash returning to winning ways in the Premier League, bouncing back from their 1-2 loss at home to Sunderland by winning 0-1 at Spurs on Saturday night.
Qarabag made a sensational start to their Champions League league phase campaign, coming from two goals down to win 2-3 in Lisbon against Benfica, before defeating Copenhagen 2-0 at home.
However, Gurban Gurbanov’s hosts were beaten 3-1 away at Athletic Club 3-1 on MD3, on an evening where our man Gabriel landed a couple of winners.
How the bookies view it: Chelsea favourites
Chelsea are favourites to make it three consecutive victories in the Champions League, with BOYLE Sports pricing an away success at just 1/3.
The same firm has Qarabag as 13/2 underdogs to claim their third victory in the league phase, whilst the draw is 4/1.
Head to head: 100% record for The Blues
These two clubs faced off in the group stages of the Champions League in the 2017/18 season, where Chelsea comfortably won both matches 6-0 and 0-4.
Players to watch: Pedro to pounce again?
Joao Pedro was the hero in North London on Saturday for Chelsea, with his goal in the first half sealing all three points against Tottenham.
The Brazil international now has six goals for the Blues since his summer arrival from Brighton, and he is 11/10 at BOYLE Sports to get on the scoresheet in Baku on Wednesday night.
Predicted line-ups:
Qarabag will be without Ramil Sheydayev and Joni Montiel.
Chelsea still have a lengthy injury list, with Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, Cole Palmer and Dario Essugo all sidelined, but both Liam Delap and Joao Pedro are available.
Qarabag: Kochalski, Silva, Mustafazada, Medina, Cafarquliyev, Bicalho, Kady, Duran, Andrade, Zoubir, Akhundzade
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Tosin, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, James, Neto, Fernandez, Garnacho, Pedro
Anything else catch the eye?
Qarabag have impressed in the Champions League so far and have scored in each of their opening three league phase matches – scoring six goals – and are capable of breaching a Blues backline that has kept just three clean sheets across their last 12 matches in all competitions.
Chelsea’s last 12 matches in all competitions have averaged 3.50 goals per game, with Both Teams to Score paying out in nine (75%) of them, whilst 10 (83%) have gone Over 2.5 Goals.
The Blues should possess too much quality, so the 5/6 on offer at BOYLE Sports for a Chelsea Win & Over 2.5 Goals appeals.
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