Basel v Chelsea: Oscar to ensure Blues exact revenge on Swiss
Published:Jose Mourinho’s defiance in the wake of Chelsea’s shock matchday-one defeat to Basel appears fully justified now his side sit pretty at the top of Group E and what better way to gain revenge over the Swiss, than to qualify at their expense, with a third straight away win in the competition.
A disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Schalke on matchday two quickly brought Basel back to earth after their Stamford Bridge exploits and successive draws with Steaua Bucharest have left the Swiss side teetering on the edge of an exit on matchday five.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s progress has simply been serene. After putting four past Steaua on the road, two successive 3-0 wins over Schalke make the Blues more than worthy 4/5 favourites to grab the three points needed to qualify for the knockout stages.
Having registered 10 Champions League goals without reply, another win to nil has to be considered as one of the stand-out bets again here, available at 21/10 with Ladbrokes.
This of course brings into play the 6/4 on a fourth consecutive Champions League clean sheet for the Premier League club.
And having bagged at least twice in nine of their last 10 outings in all competitions, it seems a fairly sound assertion that the free-scoring Blues rack up another 2-3 in Switzerland, priced enticingly at 6/5.
Pulling the strings in the continued absence of Juan Mata is Mourinho’s favoured number 10, Oscar.
The slightly-built Brazilian was Chelsea’s best player against West Ham last time out, scoring himself, as he did against Basel in the home tie in the group and linking the play with ease.
The 4/1 on offer that Oscar scores in a Chelsea win looks a fine punt.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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