Chelsea travel to Eastern Europe to face unfancied but formidable Slavia Prague in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final tonight. This is the Blues’ only remaining chance of silverware this season and they will look to get an advantage away from home. Here’s a look at one of the biggest matches tonight with some betting tips. You can bet on the Europa League here.
Czech side Slavia Prague welcome Chelsea for the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final. The Czech giants spectacularly eliminated Spanish side Sevilla in the knockout round, scoring a match-winner in the 119th minute, and should cause the Premier League side plenty of problems at home.
Meanwhile, the Blues are having a brilliant run in the competition, registering nine wins from ten games, conceding just four goals while scoring an eye-watering 25 goals. However, the Czech league leaders are not to be taken lightly and Chelsea should approach the match with caution.
Betting Preview
Three of Slavia Prague’s last five matches in the Europa League have recorded three or more goals. Chelsea’s last six matches in the competition have seen Over 2.5 Goals, which you can back at odds of 1.90.
The hosts have scored in three of their last four matches while keeping two clean sheets. The visitors, on the other hand, have scored in their last five matches in this competition. The Blues have also kept just one clean sheet in their last five away matches in all competitions. Therefore you can back both of these teams to score at odds of 1.85.
Olivier Giroud is the top scorer in the competition this season with nine goals so far. The last player to surpass this figure in a single UEFA Europa League season was Athletic Bilbao’s Aritz Aduriz, who scored ten goals in the 2015/2016 season. Therefore, you can back Olivier Giroud as Anytime Goalscorer at odds of 2.30.
Team news
Slavia Prague will have Vladimir Coufal back from suspension but have now lost Tomas Soucek to a one-match ban. Midfielder Jakub Hromada will also miss out through injury.
Maurizio Sarri will be sweating on Eden Hazard’s fitness given his side play Liverpool on Sunday in a massive game. Marcos Alonso will also miss out through injury.
Possible line-ups
Slavia Prague: Kolar, Kudela, Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Deli, Coufal, Traore, Husbauer, Kral, Boril, Stoch; Skoda
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen, Emerson, Kovacic, Jorginho, Barkley, Willian, Giroud, Pedro