Chelsea welcome Sevilla to Stamford Bridge in the opening game of the UEFA Champions League 2020/21 group stage on Tuesday evening.
The Blues suffered an extremely disappointing 3-3 draw with Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, and will be looking to make drastic improvements defensively to get a result against tough Spanish opposition.
Last year’s Europa League champions will be looking to start with a positive result in a race with their west London opponents to top the group, and have started slowly for their usual high standards so far this campaign.
Recent Form [All Competitions]
Chelsea – DWDDW
Lampard’s side are struggling for form in recent weeks, drawing three of their last five matches in all competitions sacrificing leads against Tottenham and Southampton most recently due to defensive issues that are threatening to mar any progress made from last year offensively.
However, with the potential returns of Thiago Silva and Edouard Mendy to the fold for the opening tie, Chelsea will want to start reversing their awful defensive record in recent weeks by fielding a full strength back four for as many fixtures as possible to try and build more consistency. Chelsea were beaten 7-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16 by Bayern Munich in their last fixture’s in the competition.
The Blues were knocked out of the Champions League in the Round of 16 by eventual winners Bayern Munich and will be looking to advance deeper in the competition by winning the group, after being handed a more complicated draw by finishing second last campaign.
Sevilla – LDWWL
Julian Loptegui’s side have made a rather slow start to the season in comparison to previous years, most recently falling to a tricky away defeat to Granada in La Liga, but have an impressive record in Europe and will be looking to resurrect their past successes in England.
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Team News:
Thiago Silva and Mateo Kovacic are likely to return to the squad for the clash with Sevilla after returning to fitness from issues at the end of the international break while Cesar Azpilicueta is likely to start again for the Blues.
Edouard Mendy has trained ahead of the fixture at Stamford Bridge and could feature after a poor performance from Kepa Arrizabalaga on Saturday, while Billy Gilmour is getting closer to a return to fitness and is approximately three to four weeks away from making a comeback into the fold.
The visitors are missing Jules Kounde after he tested positive for coronavirus and is unavailable to Lopetegui, while Aleix Vidal and Oussama Idrissi also miss out.
