English Premier League club Chelsea will host Serie A side Napoli on Wednesday night in the second leg ‘Round of 16’ match of the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea are trailing Napoli by 3-1 after the Italian club defeated them in Naples, which was former manager Andre Villas Boas’ last European game for the London club before being sacked by Russian owner Roman Abrahimovich.
Things have changed for Chelsea since Villas Boas’ departure, and they have changed for better as the Blues have won back-to-back games under caretaker manager Roberto De Matteo.
The first leg of the tie saw Napoli dominate the English club. Juan Mata had opened the scoring for Chelsea inside the half-hour mark at the Stadio San Paolo. But Napoli were at their best as they came back into the game to score three goals and win the match.
Attackers Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani were the goal-scorers in the previous encounter, where Lavezzi made two good finishes on either side of Cavani’s goal. And they will be the men to watch in the second leg as well.
Chelsea have had problems upfront as record signing Fernando Torres has been in his worst form in front of goal. But Didier Drogba is making up for the striker’s role decently under De Matteo. So the Ivorian is expected to start against Napoli ahead of Torres.
Skipper John Terry could be available after his surprisingly quick recovery from a knee operation, but the manager may not risk him. So David Luiz and Gary Cahill are most likely to form the pair in central defence.
No doubt it will be a tough game for Chelsea against a team who continued their 16-year unbeaten run at home in the competition with the victory in the first leg.
With the two-goal advantage, the visitors will be the favourites to go to the quarterfinals. And that task will be eased if players like Cavani come out at their best in the match at Stamford Bridge.