Lampard to be dropped? Predicted Chelsea and Schalke line-up and stats preview
Date: 6th November 2013
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Chelsea will host Schalke on Wednesday night for what is a crucial game for the West London club, both in the context of their Champions League Group Stage but also in the context of their 2-0 defeat at Newcastle. Winning 3-0 at Schalke had given the Blues some impetus, but they’ll need to build on this with a strong performance at home, especially as they lost their opening home game of the campaign to FC Basel.
Team news
Chelsea
Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns but we could expect mass changes from the side that were beaten against Newcastle at the weekend, given that Jose Mourinho declared he made ’11 mistakes’ in his team selection on Saturday.
Schalke
Schalke will still be without their main marksman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar up front, but might reshuffle things somewhat from the side who lost against Chelsea.
Predicted line-ups
Chelsea
We can certainly expect Chelsea to ring the changes from the side who ran out losers in Newcastle. Jose Mourinho’s criticism of his own selection is indicative of the fact he will make changes en masse. Frank Lampard and Juan Mata were two players substituted so we could see them make way. David Luiz might also miss out for Gary Cahill. Torres is also likely to miss out meaning a return t the starting line-up for Samuel Eto’o.
4-2-3-1: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole; Mikel, Ramires, Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard; Eto’o.
Schalke
Schalke played without a the 0-3 defeat to Chelsea. This didn’t bear fruit as Schalke managed only a handful of clear chances against Petr Cech, who was an equal match to Schalke’s five shots on target. At the weekend Schalke played Adam Szalai up front, with the Hungarian finding the net. This means that Kevin Prince Boateng, possibly the clubs best player, will return to attacking midfield.
4-2-3-1: Hildebrand; Uchida, Howedes, Matip, Aogo; Hoger, Neustädter, Meyer, Boaten, Draxler; Szalai.
Recent form
Chelsea lost at the weekend to Newcastle, ending a run of six consecutive wins in all competitions. As such it’ll be interesting to see how the side respond to this, given that the team traditionally struggle in November.
Schalke followed up their defeat to Chelsea with a 1-3 home defeat to Borussia Dortmund, but did win 2-0 over Hertha Berlin at the weekend. The side cannot really afford a consecutive Champions League defeat, even if Basel did draw last time round to Steaua.
Players to Watch
Chelsea - Ramires
Ramires is definitely the player to watch for Chelsea. While many of the other attacking talents have had up and down seasons for the Blues, Ramires has been a consistent player, scoring twice in Romania on match day two. Not only that but he’s also won 3.5 tackles per game with a 100% tackle success rate in the Champions League for Jose Mourinho’s side. The Brazilian has also been a driving force out of midfield completing two dribbles per game at a success rate of 67%. His midfield drive and ability to move Chelsea from defence to attack could be crucial in this tie.
Schalke - Kevin-Prince Boateng
Kevin Prince-Boateng is a player familiar to Chelsea fans, namely for injuring Michael Ballack in an FA Cup final weeks before the 2010 World Cup. Boateng is however a very effective player and someone who has netted three times in seven games for Schalke this season. The Ghanian has also created eight chances for his team-mates and is a lot more effective playing behind the striker, rather than leading the line. Averaging more than two shots per match in the Bundesliga, we can expect Boateng to try his luck from range if he’s given space to do so.
Prediction
Home win. Chelsea will probably bounce back from their defeat against Newcastle at the weekend with success against Schalke. Their 3-0 win in Germany was the real test and it’s difficult to see them slipping up at home, even if they do concede in the process of winning.
Chelsea 3-1 Schalke