The Champions League Group Stage Round 3: Chelsea vs Maribor – Kick Off 1945 (Local Time)
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Filipe Luis; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Remy.
Subs: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ake, Salah, Solanke, Drogba.
The old caveats apply tonight about how there are no easy games in The Champions League, even in the group stages.
Indeed Maribor, the champions of Slovenia, aren’t actually that bad. They have two draws to show for their European adventure this season, including a creditable result against Schalke, who themselves took a point off Chelsea in the first round of fixtures.
But expect a Chelsea win. If they get an early goal it could be a big win but we think that this one has 2-0 written all over it.
Chelsea look a solid in every department right now and, even without the hamstrung Diego Costa, they should have easily enough firepower to break the resilience of Maribor.
Chelsea will want an early goal to take the pressure off. The longer it goes at 0-0 the more tense the home team could become.
