Chelsea welcome AC Milan to Stamford Bridge in a huge Group E clash in 2022-23 UEFA Champions League.
Victory would see Chelsea climb off the foot of the group, whilst AC Milan can stay top with a win.
Team News
Jorginho is a doubt for Chelsea after he was substituted in Saturday’s comeback win at Crystal Palace with a knock.
Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka could both return from illness but Edouard Mendy (knee) and N’Golo Kante (hamstring) won’t be risked until both are declared match-fit.
AC Milan will be without Alexis Saelemaekers after he suffered a knee injury in their Serie A win over Empoli.
Junior Messias and Divock Origi could both return from muscle injuries if they pass late fitness checks.
Mike Maignan (calf), Davide Calabria, Simon Kjaer (both hamstring), Theo Hernandez (adductor), Alessandro Florenzi (muscle) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (knee) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have drawn each of their two previous Champions League meetings against AC Milan (D2), having been held 0-0 at home in September 1999 then drew 1-1 away in October 1999.
- AC Milan failed to score in their only previous Champions League visit to Chelsea.
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their two previous home matches against AC Milan in all UEFA competitions (W1, D1).
- One point from their opening two group matches is Chelsea’s worst start to the Group Stage since 1999-2000 season, yet they eventually reached the semi-finals where they lost to Barcelona.
- Alexis Saelemaekers has scored in each of AC Milan’s two group matches so far this season.
Prediction
Having conceded a sloppy seventh-minute opening goal at Palace on Saturday, Chelsea certainly benefitted from having the luck of clinical finishing on their side unlike Palace to recover with late goals in each half, yet there is clearly further improvement to find under Graham Potter’s watch.
AC Milan meanwhile are down to the bare bones defensively due to various injuries so their defence will certainly be an area that Chelsea should target given Milan’s vulnerabilities, although Olivier Giroud will certainly be a threat for Milan given his knowledge of various Chelsea players.
Goals therefore should be a decent bet here because neither team look defensively solid at the minute but if Chelsea can build upon the positives of Saturday’s result, they should have the edge if attack this game aggressively and trouble AC Milan’s weak defence.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 AC Milan
Result: Chelsea 3-0 AC Milan
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