Date: Tuesday, November 26 Venue: St Jakob Park Kick-Off: 19:45 Chelsea only need to draw against FC Basel in tonight's Group E clash in Switzerland in order to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but they lost in the reverse fixture.
Team News
Basel will be without Marcelo Diaz for the remainder of the group stage phase after the midfielder suffered a broken rib. Left-back Behrang Safari is also out with a thigh injury, though defensive midfielder Serey Die should be fit despite being forced out of training on Monday with a foot injury. Chelsea will welcome striker Fernando Torres back into the side following a layoff with a thigh injury, though defender David Luiz (knee) has been ruled out. Ashley Cole is still suffering from a rib injury and though he has travelled, Cesar Azpilicueta is likely to continue in the starting XI. (eurosport)
Key Stats
Basel have lost only once in their seven meetings with English opposition (W2, D4), winning the last two. Chelsea have kept three successive clean sheets in the Champions League for the first time since October 2009. Only Bayern Munich have kept as many clean sheets as Chelsea in this seasons tournament (three). On home soil, Basel are yet to win or keep a clean sheet in the Champions League this season (D1, L1). Chelsea have only failed to score once in their last 24 Champions League games (3-0 vs Juventus in November 2012).
Chelsea will be looking to avenge their 1-2 defeat against FC Basel in the reverse of this fixture on September 18 and qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League in the process. The Blues just need a point in Switzerland to assure qualification, but will be wary of an opponent who beat them in their own backyard last time out. Then, a first half goal from Oscar looked to have put Jose Mourinho's men on course for victory, before Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller stunned Stamford Bridge into silence. Both are set to play for the home side tonight and will be hoping to emulate those heroics, and continue Basel's impressive record of having lost only once in their seven meetings with English opposition. This match pre-dates a run of nine December fixtures for Chelsea, with Southampton, Sunderland, Stoke, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Swansea and Liverpool still to come in the Premier League, interspersed with matches against Steaua Bucharest in their final Champions League game and Sunderland in the last eight of the League Cup. The message from Mourinho is clear. Assure qualification tonight, and those games could be just that little bit easier to negotiate. The Portuguese boss said:
"Nine matches and one of them is against Steaua. That's our motivation for Tuesday, to try to kill the situation in the group phase and give us a little bit of space in December; instead of having nine real, competitive matches, we only have eight."