CHELSEA travel to Krasnodar on Wednesday in the Champions League. Daniel McCulloch (@DMcCulloch1984) shares his favourite fancies.
Krasnodar vs Chelsea | Wednesday 28th October 2020, 17:55 | BT Sport
Having watched Frank Lampard’s teams be pretty potent going forward and fairly woeful at the back over the last two and a bit seasons, it is has surprised me to see them record back to back 0-0 draws over the last week.
How much of that is due to Eduoard Mendy coming in to the side remains to be seen but I don’t think Lampard will be pleased with how little his side created against either Seville or Manchester United. They had just a single shot on target away to United on Saturday and recorded an xG of just 0.22 in what was a pretty toothless display.
While you shouldn’t read too much in to 180 minutes when there is a body of evidence that suggests that Lampard – at both Derby and Chelsea – finds it a lot easier to put together a coercive attacking side than a solid defensive one, it is at the back of my mind for what it likely to be a fairly tight European encounter.
Chelsea’s opponents on Wednesday night, Krasnador, started their Champions League group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw at Rennes last week but they are not pulling up any trees domestically, finding themselves in eighth place in the Russian Premier League and having lost 3-1 to Spartak Moscow at the weekend.
All things considered, Chelsea should have too much for Krasnador, but I don’t expect them to make easy work of it. Their three group stage victories last season – two against Lille and one against Ajax – all came by a single goal and all saw three goals or fewer scored.
With that in mind, I will keep it simple and back Chelsea to win and under 3.5 goals at 6/5 with Boylesports and add a more conservative play: Chelsea and under 4.5 goals at 8/11 with Betway.
Best Bets
Krasnador vs Chelsea – Chelsea to win and Under 3.5 Goals (6/5 Boylesports)
Krasnador vs Chelsea – Chelsea to win and under 4.5 Goals (8/11 Betway)
