Date: Wednesday, November 6 Venue: Stamford Bridge Kick-Off: 19:45 Chelsea can take a big step toward qualification for the knock-out stages of the Champions League with victory over Group E rivals Schalke tonight.
Team News
Chelsea will be without injured striker Fernando Torres for Wednesday night's visit of Schalke, meaning Samuel Eto'o is likely to start up front. Torres, who scored twice in the 3-0 win over tonight's opponents in the reverse fixture, misses out with a leg injury. Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler is set to start for the German side after scoring his first league goal of the season over the weekend, but centre-back Kyriakos Papadopoulos again misses out with a knee problem. Star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar is also still sidelined with injury. (BBC)
Key Stats
Chelsea won the reverse fixture at Schalke 3-0 thanks to a brace from Fernando Torres and a strike from Eden Hazard. Schalke won on their last visit to London, beating Arsenal with goals from Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay in October 2012. Chelsea's defeat at home by Basel in their opening Champions League game of the season was their first in 30 home group-stage matches. Turkish side Besiktas were the previous team to win at Stamford Bridge at this stage of the competition, beating a Blues side including Marcel Desailly, Juan Sebastian Veron and Adrian Mutu 2-0 on 1 October 2003.
Chelsea will be looking to put their disappointing 2-0 Premier League defeat to Newcastle behind them when they play host to Schalke in the Champions League tonight. That loss meant the Blues lost ground in the title race and a similar slip-up here could put Jose Mourinho's side's qualification hopes for the knock out stages in fresh doubt. The 1-0 slump to Basel at Stamford Bridge in the opening round of Champions League fixtures means there's very little room for more mistakes, though that was Chelsea's first defeat on home soil in 30 group-stage matches. The Blues also easily dispatched of tonight's opponents 3-0 in Germany last month, and will be confident of getting the result that should see them cross the line. That being said, Schalke won on their last trip to London - seeing off Arsenal in 2012 - and defender Joel Matip believes his side can pull off a similar upset here. He said:
"One year ago, no-one thought that we could earn something at Arsenal. And we have something to make up for."
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
