Champions League: Chelsea Prepare For Lift Off!

Chelsea vs Malmo

Chelsea continue their Champions League campaign on Wednesday with a Group H clash against Swedish side Malmo.

Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea are defending the trophy they won in style last term, but they have work to do this time around with three points from two games, after a win against Zenit and a defeat to Juventus. Meanwhile visitors Malmo are yet to get off the mark. Both teams come into the clash on the back of an away win, a 0-1 triumph away to Brentford for Chelsea, while Malmo won 0-3 away to Osterund… but there is a world of difference between the English Premier League and the Swedish top flight.

An expected home win will give Chelsea’s Euro campaign a lift off and keep their title defence on the right track.

Talking Points

Narrow defeats won’t deter Chelsea

The Blues are second favourites at SBOTOP odds of 2.35, behind Juventus, to win Group H, though Malmo at 501.00 are already pretty much out of the race, according to the Champions League 2021 betting odds. And at odds of 1.09 to win this game surely it’s not a case of whether the Blues can win, more so by how many.

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Premier League

Chelsea have suffered two recent defeats, both by a 1-0 score-line, against Manchester City and Juventus. The Bianconeri did a professional job on the Blues in their last European outing, while Pep Guardiola’s City is a side dripping with world-class talent. Tuchel will ensure his team learns from those defeats and they will remain a tough team to beat. A short weekend trip to Brentford was not as easy a task as it may initially sound as the Bees pushed Chelsea to the limits. Ben Chilwell scored the only goal of the game and keeper Edouard Mendy pulled off a couple of great saves to preserve three valuable points, which leave the Blues top of the league.

Up front, Romelu Lukaku’s return to Stamford Bridge has gone as well as anyone at the club could have hoped, and Timo Werner is growing in confidence alongside him. The boss may also be tempted to start with Kai Havertz as his pace could play havoc with the Malmo defence.

Malmo swimming with the big fish

At odds of 17.32 to win this clash some of the visitors’ fans might be tempted but, if they manage to pull off a shock victory; this would be one of the biggest Champions League 2021 results of the tournament so far. The Swedish champions qualified for the group stages of the Champions League after dumping Scottish side Rangers out of the qualifiers in a bad tempered tie. Two Rangers players were red carded, as was Malmo’s Ricardinho, but a goal from Jiloan Hamad was enough to see the Swedes through to Europe’s flagship competition while consigning the Glaswegians to the Europa League.

Jon Dahl Tomasson aims to win with Malmo against Chelsea as they battle in the Champions League — Malmo coach Jon Dahl Tomasson during their match against FC Zenit

Malmo head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson was a prolific striker in his day, scoring 52 goals in 112 appearances for Denmark and, in a career spanning 20 seasons between 1992 and 2011 he scored freely in La Liga with Villarreal, in Serie A with Milan, while Premier League fans will remember his brief stint at Newcastle United.

But di Blai doesn’t boast a striker as prolific as their boss and they are yet to score in the Group stages. A 4-0 defeat at the hands of Zenit Saint Petersburg and a 3-0 loss to Juventus has left them rock bottom and looking at their next fixture, with the reigning champions, as a game they need to win to prolong their campaign.

History

While Chelsea have thrived in Europe and are currently topping a highly competitive Premier League, Malmo have also had their big day in the sun, as the only Nordic club to play in the Intercontinental Cup (the forerunner of the FIFA Club World Cup) back in 1979.

Both previous encounters between Chelsea and Malmo happened in the 2019/20 Europa League and each had the same outcome, a victory for the Blues, 3-0 at the Bridge and 1-2 in Sweden.

The recent form of these two teams has perfect symmetry with both Chelsea and Malmo recording two wins, two defeats and then two more wins over the last six games.

Betting Tip

	Chelsea vs Malmo	Chelsea Asian Handicap -2.50 @ 1.95
	October 21, 03:00 (GMT+8)

Even the draw at odds of 9.64 would be a huge achievement for the underdogs and, having been comprehensively beaten in both their previous group games, I can see another tough night ahead for Tomasson’s men.

A Correct Score prediction of 3-0 at 4.74 would be a repeat of the last meeting in West London; while 4-1 at odds of 16.34 is a long shot alternative.