Chelsea v Valencia Tips

This crunch clash in Group E sees Chelsea needing a win or a goalless draw to ensure progression to the knockout stages. It’s a peculiar situation for Valencia to find themselves in; a score draw puts them through so we have to assume they will be pushing for the goal than would mean that the hosts need two.

Andre Villas Boas’s side received a major morale boost with an emphatic 3-0 win at high-flying Newcastle on Saturday. It was the west London club’s best result for some time, and the performance was also much more reminiscent of the Chelsea of old. I can’t imagine that this won’t have given the Blues some real momentum heading into this vital encounter.

Having said that, AVB’s defence still looks vulnerable; David Luis was incredibly fortunate to evade a red card in the fourth minute at Newcastle, for a clear professional foul. Valencia are more than capable of exploiting weakness and finding the net. The visitors sit third in La Liga, just four points behind the mighty Barcelona with a game in hand. Their form is also excellent. Genk were demolished 7-0 in their previous Champions League outing; Rayo Vallecano and Espanyol have both been beaten 2-1 since then.

I happen to think that could be the scoreline again on Tuesday night in a potential thriller at Stamford Bridge. But Chelsea should be the side to emerge victorious. Drogba and Sturridge both looked menacing at the weekend, and in the end only Magpies keeper Tim Krul kept the score down. The Blues had an impressive 13 shots on target out of 21 in total. When these sides met at the Mestalla back in September the visitors forced 10 shots on target during the 1-1 draw.

Confidence is back up in the home camp and they can really get their season back on track with a crucial victory against high calibre Spanish opponents. It won’t be easy, but a good bet looks like Chelsea to win 2-1 at best odds of 15/2 (WilliamHill).