Chelsea have won each of their last eight Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge without conceding a goal and should be backed to continue that run against Spartak Moscow on Wednesday.
The Premier League leaders entertain Spartak knowing that a win will secure their place in the last 16 and, with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday looming large, I’m sure manager Carlo Ancelotti will want to get the job done with the minimum of fuss.
The return fixture in the Russian capital a fortnight ago resulted in a 2-0 win for the London club when strikes from Nicolas Anelka and Youri Zhirkov were enough to land the spoils. That came on the back of a comfortable victory by the same score line over Marseille in front of their own fans and Chelsea will be keen to extend their perfect record in Europe’s premiere competition this term.
Ancelotti saw his side open up with a 4-1 triumph in Zilina and Chelsea certainly have unfinished business with the Champions League having gone so close on so many occasions over the past decade. Eventual winners Inter Milan proved too good in the knockout stages last season but with the 2011 final at Wembley Chelsea have added incentive to go all the way and they look as strong as ever.
The Blues will be missing Florent Malouda on Wednesday, the Frenchman joins Frank Lampard on the sidelines, but they have plenty of quality going forward to cause the visitors any number of problems and this will be a different test altogether for the away team.
Spartak opened with impressive back-to-back wins in the group to put themselves in an excellent position to qualify but the gulf in class was evident between the pair at the Luzhniki Stadium and Chelsea now welcome back Didier Drogba to Champions League action also following suspension and then subsequently illness.
Question marks were raised about Chelsea’s ability defensively towards the end of last season, despite their Premier League success, but the rearguard has roared back into top form this time around and Petr Cech’s goal has been breached just four times in 13 top flight and Champions League matches.
No bigger than 1.25 to land the spoils, Chelsea must be backed at a standout 1.91 with Coral to win to nil and it should be fairly routine for the home side.
2pts Back Chelsea (to win to nil, vs. Spartak) @ 1.91 (Coral)