Chelsea eye third straight win in Baku

Blues aim to strengthen Champions League position

Chelsea travel to Azerbaijan on Wednesday to face Qarabag FK at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, looking for a third straight win in the Champions League.

After losing to Bayern Munich on matchday one, Enzo Maresca’s team responded with back-to-back home victories over Benfica and Ajax. Now they have a chance to boost their top eight hopes with another win away from London.

Qarabag hoping for a shock

Gurban Gurbanov’s Qarabag have already won twice in this season’s group stage, beating Benfica and Copenhagen, but this will be their toughest test yet.

The Azerbaijani champions have lost all seven of their meetings with English teams in Europe and have failed to score in the last six. Their last clashes with Chelsea came eight years ago, ending 6-0 and 4-0 for the Blues.

Still, Qarabag will take heart from their recent scoring form — finding the net in all three group games so far — and the creativity of Abdellah Zoubir and Leandro Andrade.

Chelsea full of confidence

Chelsea head into the game after a steady run of results. They followed up their 5-1 win over Ajax with a 1-0 victory against Tottenham at the weekend, with Joao Pedro scoring the decisive goal.

A win in Baku could lift Chelsea as high as sixth in the overall table, depending on results elsewhere. The Blues have fond memories of the city after their 4-1 victory over Arsenal in the 2019 Europa League final.

Maresca’s men remain without Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and Dario Essugo, while Mykhaylo Mudryk continues to serve a suspension. Liam Delap may feature after recovering from injury, and Romeo Lavia could start in midfield.

Prediction

Qarabag 1–4 Chelsea

Qarabag might find a goal, but Chelsea’s quality and confidence should be too much. The Blues look ready to extend their winning run and take another big step toward the top eight.

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