Lille vs Chelsea Preview

Troubled club Chelsea will travel to France this Wednesday to face Lille in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie.

The French Ligue 1 defending champions come into this tie on the back of a disappointing goalless draw against St. Etienne in the French League.

That draw leaves their quest for a top-six finish in tatters with about a dozen games left to play in the league.

The hosts have had an underwhelming season so far on the domestic front and are a far cry from the team that won the Ligue 1 title last season.

A 2-0 loss in the first leg means that they will have to be in their best shape to stand any chance of getting a win here. Not since 2018/19 has any side erased a two-goal first-leg deficit to win a UEFA Champions League (UCL) knockout tie and Lille do not look like they can achieve that.

But given that they have lost just one of their last eight games in all competitions, they will fancy their chances of getting a win here. They have kept four clean sheets from their last five games in all competitions and have kept three clean sheets in a row at home.

Meanwhile, Chelsea will look to put their off-field issues on the side when they travel to Villeneuve d’Ascq on Wednesday.

The Blues are facing administrative issues resulting from the sanctions imposed on their club owner Ramon Abramovich by the UK Government. But despite their issues, they have kept their eyes on their goal of getting as many wins as possible.

Their last outing was an impressive 1-0 win over Newcastle United in the Premier League – their third league win in a row and their fourth win in all competitions.

The reigning European champions have enjoyed tremendous success in 2022 and have been restricted only from scoring within the 90 minutes by Liverpool and Manchester City since the turn of the year (W13, D2, L2).

With a healthy 2-0 lead on aggregate ahead of this second leg, Thomas Tuchel’s side are the favourites to progress to the next round.

Given that they have beaten Lille in each of their last three head-to-head meetings, they will travel to France confident of getting a result that will take them to the quarter-finals round.