Graham Potter faces a replay of his first game in charge of Chelsea when he takes his side to Austria to face Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday.
The Blues sparked fears of Champions League elimination with that 1-1 draw but two victories over AC Milan have since put Chelsea in top spot in Group E and a win would guarantee their qualification for the next round.
They’ll have to see off a Salzburg side who are still unbeaten in Europe but have drawn three of their four games, with a damaging draw away at Dinamo Zagreb leaving them with work to do to get through to the knockout stages.
Here’s all you need to know about this one.
Current Form (Last Five Games)
Salzburg team news
Salzburg’s injury issues don’t get any easier. Midfielder Luca Sucic is the latest doubt with a muscle injury, and although there is some confidence he will be fit, the youngster is at risk of joining Justin Omoregie, Fernando, Ousmane Diakite, Nicolas Capaldo, Sekou Koita and Dijon Kameri on the sidelines.
Veteran captain Andreas Ulmer is optimistic that a recent knock won’t prevent him from starting here.
Salzburg Starting XI (4-3-1-2): Kohn; Dedic, Solet, Pavlovic, Ulmer; Kjaergaard, Gourna-Douath, Seiwald; Sucic; Okafor, Sesko
Bench: Mantl, Walke, Piatkowski, Wover, Bernardo, Van der Brempt, Diarra, Adamu, Simic
Chelsea team news
Kalidou Koulibaly missed the Manchester United game with a knee injury, while a similar issue was expected to limit Mateo Kovacic’s minutes before a major tactical rejig was needed to salvage something from the game. The Croatian is unlikely to start this one as a result.
Reece James, N’Golo Kante and Wesley Fofana all remain out.
Chelsea Starting XI (4-3-1-2): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Silva, Chilwell; Gallagher, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek; Mount; Havertz, Aubameyang
Bench: Mendy, Bettinelli, Cucurella, Zakaria, Chukwuemeka, Kovacic, Pulisic, Broja, Ziyech, Sterling
Despite their undefeated streak under Potter, things aren’t really clicking for Chelsea at either end of the field and their tactical imbalance against Man Utd will have the boss wondering how best to set his side up against another team that like to overload the midfield.
We saw earlier this season that Salzburg are capable of getting something against this Chelsea side when they’re not at their best, and they’ll fancy their chances of getting at least one goal.
Chelsea aren’t scoring too freely at the minute but they will expect to find their shooting boots against this calibre of opposition and force their way into the next round of the Champions League.
Prediction: Salzburg 1-3 Chelsea
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