Chelsea travel to the Polish capital on Thursday to take on a Legia Warsaw side sitting fifth in the Polish Ekstraklasa.
This is a similar position to the Blues, who are fourth in the Premier League, but are only in the top four due to having a superior goal difference to Newcastle United.
The Blues go into this game in reasonable form, after beating Tottenham and being held to a goalless draw at Brentford last time out.
However, there are concerns about Chelsea’s away form as this was their eighth Premier League game in a row without a win. Their only win on their travels in the last 10 games in all competitions was against København in the last round of the Europa Conference League.
Legia, meanwhile, are also suffering mixed results. They have won two, drawn two and lost two of their last six league games. They come into this match off the back of a come-from-behind win over Górnik Zabrze on Sunday.
LEGIA WARSAW VS CHELSEA PREVIEW
This is the first time the two sides have met, so there is no previous form to go on. Indeed, Chelsea have never faced Polish opposition in European competition before.
In the last-16 of the Europa Conference League, Chelsea defeated København 3-1 on aggregate. At the same stage, Legia Warsaw scraped past Molde, needing extra-time to secure a 4-3 overall win.
Chelsea are unbeaten in the Europa Conference League this season, winning eight games out of eight. They are favourites to win the trophy too as they have a path to the final that involves avoiding any teams in Europe’s top five leagues. After Legia, should they progress, they will face either Djurgardens or Rapid Vienna.
This is not to say Legia will be pushovers though. They are joint top scorers in the Polish top flight, level with Lech Poznan on 50, and are looking to make it three wins in a row in all competitions. They also had strong wins against TSC, Dinamo Minsk and Omonia Nicosia in the Europa Conference League group stage.
Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto and Cole Palmer all started on the bench for Chelsea against Brentford. This suggests the Blues are prioritising this competition.
Wesley Fofana is out through injury while Romeo Lavia is ineligible.
Legia didn’t rest many players at the weekend, unlike Chelsea. Marc Gual and Bartosz Kapustka are doubts, while Jan Ziolkowski and Artur Jedrzejczyk are suspended. Steve Kapuadi could return after serving his suspension.
LEGIA WARSAW VS CHELSEA – PREDICTIONS
Legia Warsaw Win
The Polish side are enjoying strong home form, having won four of their last five in all competitions. They have kept a clean sheet in all four too. Chelsea, meanwhile, are shy in attack and have only scored once in their last three Premier League games. With home advantage, the Polish side could sneak the win.
Draw
This game is likely to be tight, with Chelsea not coming into this with the best of form. Legia have something of a home fortress right now, so it wouldn’t surprise if the spoils are shared.
Chelsea Win
Chelsea have won all eight of their Europa Conference League games fairly easily, including dispatching København 3-1 over two legs. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win in Denmark and Legia are of a similar standard.
LEGIA WARSAW VS CHELSEA – BETTING TIPS
Chelsea Win
Chelsea have won all eight games in the Europa Conference League so far and are favourites to win the tournament outright. I expect them to be too strong for Legia Warsaw and to win a low-scoring affair.
Both Teams To Score – No
It’s very hard to see both teams scoring here. Chelsea have kept four clean sheets in their last five games and all five of them didn’t see both teams score. Both teams did not score in three of Legia’s last five games too.
HEAD-TO-HEAD AND KEY STATS
- This is the first ever meeting between Legia Warsaw and Chelsea.
- Legia Warsaw have not conceded in the second half in their six home games in all competitions during this calendar year.
- Legia Warsaw have won four of their last five home games, keeping a clean sheet in all of them. They have only lost once at home since mid-September.
- Legia Warsaw have scored at least once in their last 14 European matches.
- Chelsea have not won away from home in eight Premier League games.
- Four of Chelsea’s last five games have either been won or lost 1-0.
- Chelsea have kept four clean sheets in their last five games, but have only scored three times in this period.
- Chelsea have scored at least three goals in five of their Europa Conference League games this season.
