Chelsea will bounce back to smash Zilina at Stamford Bridge
Published:Carlo Ancelotti may be the second favourite at 4/1 to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job, but that extra pressure shouldn’t stop Chelsea sweeping aside Zilina in the Champions League.
The Blues have faced Zilina once already in Group F, with Ancelotti’s men coming out on top 4-1 in Slovakia.
Goals from Michael Essien, Daniel Sturridge and a brace from Nicolas Anelka put Chelsea on their way to qualifying and offers some insight as to why they are currently 1/7 in the betting to repeat the trick at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s recent record does not make pretty viewing though. Since their 4-1 win against Spartak Moscow, they have gone on to lose three of their last four Premier League games.
With qualification from the group already guaranteed, Ancelotti is set make a host of changes the starting XI that has been so poor in recent weeks. Josh McEachran and Gaël Kakuta have both been mentioned by Ancelotti as possible starters this week and will be eager to prove their worth.
However, we saw when Didier Drogba was left on the bench against Liverpool his importance to Chelsea’s cause and there is every chance he could start to try and dig the west London side out of their rut.
Even if wholesale changes are made, the Blues – who have only lost against Inter Milan and Barcelona at home in the Champions League in the past six years – should still have far too much and backing the 3-0 win at 6/1 looks very tempting.
Despite Drogba’s importance, the one player to keep an eye on is Nicolas Anelka. The Frenchman has scored five goals already in Europe this term and against a team that has shipped 15 goals in their last four Champions League games, backing him to find the net at 11/4 could certainly be worth a bet.
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