Venue: Cristal Arena
Date: Tuesday 1 November
Kick-off: 1945 GMT
Well, we had a nice little game against Genk last time out and if ever we could do with another nice little game, it’s now!
Not sure what happened in the Premier League at the weekend but it seemed to end in something just short of a victory parade – and we weren’t the guests of honour. So, with amnesia protecting me nicely from any unwanted reminders, it’s on to the Champions League tonight and if we could just have a repeat of our last meeting, we’ll all be happy.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going into tonight’s return leg, Genk coach Mario Been is hoping his side will benefit from being on home soil, saying “We take with us the excellent feeling of our victory over Brugge last Saturday. That is very important. Of course, we play against a club that can easily line up three different teams, all of them with Europe’s top players. But we will take on the game differently than the first leg. At home, in front of a capacity crowd, we will have our chances I’m sure. The only thing we have to do is to cash in on at least one of them. And we do have the quality to do that.”
Andre Villas-Boas meanwhile, says “We can get in a very, very good position if we can win our game, of course waiting to see what happens in Valencia-Leverkusen. But we also have a chance of qualifying if Leverkusen win. We have to find winning ways straight away in the next competition and then again, when we meet in the Premier League, find the winning ways.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Genk Pudil is suspended and Benteke is not eligible to play.
For Chelsea, Drogba misses out after undergoing arm surgery, Essien (knee) remains out long-term, Hilario (flu) is still out and Mikel has stayed behind in London for a rest. AVB has refused to confirm whether John Terry will start.
TEAM
CHELSEA (from): Cech, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Luiz, Romeu, Ramires, Lampard, Torres, Mata, Malouda, Meireles, McEachran, Kalou, Sturridge, Anelka, Turnbull, Blackman.
LAST MEETING
Chelsea 5-0 Genk (19th October 2011)
PREDICTION
God only knows!
Blue is the colour
