Chelsea vs FC Porto Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

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Joel Amorim Dec 07, 2015 @ 03:29 am

Next Wednesday, 9th of December 2015, the current English champions Chelsea will measure forces with the two-time European champions FC Porto at Stamford Bridge for the last and decisive match of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage.

FC Porto last round’s home defeat at the expense of Dynamo Kyiv might have compromised their possibilities of clawing a place in the next stage of the competition. The Portuguese team’s lacklustre performance cost them a painful defeat against an extremely organized Dynamo that was capable of perfectly exploiting FC Porto’s defensive vulnerabilities. The Dragons were at the top of their group until that match against the Ukrainians and now are probably forced to win at Stamford Bridge if they want to walk through in the tournament. FC Porto managed, nevertheless, to put up a strong reaction to such defeat and they are currently on a three match undefeated run. A solid win over União da Madeira in the middle of the week and a narrow home victory against FC Paços de Ferreira last Saturday allowed Julen Lopetegui’s men to maintain the second place of the league table and the two point gap to the current leaders, Sporting CP.

FC Porto have never won a match at Stamford Bridge but they to tend put up some decent performances and cause Chelsea some major upsets when the latter visit Estádio do Dragão. Back in September, the Dragons won the match against the Blues by 2-1 thanks to goals from the Portuguese all round midfielder André André and from the Brazilian defender Maicon. Willian netted Chelsea’s goal from a free-kick just before the break.

As for Chelsea, next Wednesday’s match is of the utmost importance, especially if we have in mind their lacklustre overall performance at the English Premier League so far this season.

The UEFA Champions League is Chelsea’s great escape this term but a defeat against FC Porto next time out and a Dynamo Kyiv’s win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv will put an end to the Blues journey in the competition.

It will be a special match for José Mourinho, who won the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto back in 2004, but next Wednesday’s match will probably not be the best of times to revive those glorious moments due to utter importance of the clash.

Chelsea

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - LDWWL

FC Porto

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

Recent Form - WWWLW

Possible Line-ups

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) - Courtois - Ivanovic - Cahill - Zouma - Azpilicueta - Matic - Fabregas - Willian - Pedro - Hazard - Diego Costa

FC Porto (4-2-3-1) – Casillas - Maxi - Maicon - Marcano - Layún - Danilo - André André - Herrera - Corona - Brahimi - Aboubakar

Injury List / Suspended Players

Chelsea - Terry (in doubt) - Falcao (inj) - Ramires (in doubt)

FC Porto - None

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions