Preview
If Chelsea are to top our Champions League group, tomorrow is a must win game. Porto’s next two fixtures are Maccabi Tel Aviv in Portugal and then Israel. They then face Dynamo Kyiv in Portugal. These are three fixtures you’d expect them to win due to their strong home form and Maccabi Tel Aviv’s lack of quality. Therefore if Chelsea were to lose tomorrow and Porto to win their next 3 Champions League games, we’d go in to the final Champions League group match week unable to catch them.
Going to Ukraine certainly won’t be easy either. Their ground holds over 70,000 and they have a great home record. A win for Kyiv would put them in a strong position to go on and qualify for the knockout stages so the Dynamo fans will certainly be up for tomorrow and will get behind their team. On match day one in the group stage they drew 2-2 in Ukraine vs Porto and then beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
Chelsea headed into the international break just gone off the back of a defeat. However we beat Aston Villa last weekend to set the foundations to get back on track. Tomorrow Chelsea will need to build on Saturday’s win with another good result and try to pick up momentum going into the tough upcoming months.
Dynamo Kyiv have never won against an English side, hopefully their first win doesn’t come tomorrow. Come on Chelsea!
Match Details
Tuesday, 20th October, 7:45 PM (UK Time), at NSC Olimpiyskiy on BT Sport 2.
Previous Meetings and Recent Form
Tomorrow represents new opposition for Chelsea as it will be the first time the 2 clubs have ever met. Dynamo Kyiv have played 12 games vs English opposition in various European competitions and have won 0, drawn 2 and lost 10!
Dynamo head into the game tomorrow off the back of a 3-0 defeat at home against Shakhtar Donetsk. That loss meant they dropped down to 2nd in the Ukrainian top division.
The Ukrainian side have won 4 of their last 5 games. This has seen them score 10 goals and concede just 3. In their last 12 games they have also only conceded 6.
In Chelsea’s last 5 games, we have won 2 (Walsall and Aston Villa), drawn 1 (Newcastle) and lost 2 (Porto and Southampton).
Team News
Both Loic Remy and Pedro have stayed in London due to minor injuries. Mourinho said in his press conference today that it wasn’t worth risking the pair. This adds to the injuries of Branislav Ivanovic and Thibaut Courtois who will also both miss the game. Eden Hazard was dropped for our game vs Aston Villa and Mourinho said after the game that he won’t play until he brings more to the team defensively. However due to the injury of Pedro, he’s likely to start tomorrow. Baba Rahman had a poor defensive display at the weekend but despite this he’s expected to start. Mourinho also has a selection dilemma in the middle with Ramires back in form. Loftus-Cheek has also been promised more game time and he looked good on the ball vs Aston Villa. Matic will also be key for us tomorrow with his defensive qualities in a game where we will need balance and stability. Fabregas will also be pushing for a start. Another player who played fairly well at the weekend and played an excellent ball to Costa before his shot deflected of Hutton and went in.
One player to watch for Kyiv is Ukrainian forward Yarmolenko. He’s their star man and has caught the eye of some top European clubs with the likes of Chelsea recently being linked with him.
My Prediction
I think tomorrow will be a hard game like most European away games. Dynamo Kyiv have an intimidating stadium and an excellent home record. Friday’s defeat to Shaktar was their first loss in the league in 18 months!
However I think Chelsea’s quality will be too much for them despite us failing to hit the heights of last season.
Prediction: Dynamo Kyiv 1-3 Chelsea