Champions League
2010-11-03 - Chelsea vs Spartak Moscow
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Champions League Match Day 4
Wednesday 3 November 2010 - Kickoff 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Chelsea (9 Points, 1st)
Chelsea look to secure their place in the last 16 and also top spot in the Group with another win here. This will allow Carlo Ancelotti to rest players in the remaining 2 games of the Group stage and concentrate fully on maintaining their lead in the Premier League. Chelsea have won all 3 games in the Champions League, scoring 8 goals and conceding just 1, and came away from Russia with a 0-2 win on Match Day 3.
This is a fairly daunting test for Spartak Moscow as they come to Stamford Bridge knowing that Chelsea have won all 5 Premier League games there without conceding a goal. The Blues have averaged just over 3 goals a game at home in the League and have only conceded goals in the Carling Cup game when they made a number of changes to the side.
Blackburn scored against Chelsea on Saturday, the only goal they have conceded in their last 6 games since losing at Manchester City. If we take out the loss to Newcastle in the Carling Cup, Chelsea have an intimidating recent record at Stamford Bridge. They have conceded just 1 goal in 10 games there and have kept 9 clean sheets in a row.
Frank Lampard and Jose Bosingwa are sidelined and will be joined by Florent Malouda who picked up a knock at Blackburn. One player who must be itching to play will be Didier Drogba who is yet to make an appearance in the Champions League after serving a 2 game suspension and then having a virus last time out.
Spartak Moscow (6 Points, 2nd)
Spartak Moscow have already surpassed expectations from their fans but would dearly love to push on for a place in the last 16. They put themselves into this strong position after beating Marseille in France 0-1 and then following it up with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Zilina. The defeat to Chelsea gave them a reality check on Match Day 3.
The side currently occupy 4th place in the Russian top flight and are 14 points behind the leaders Zenit St Petersburg. The fans will be hoping they can at least attempt to catch local rivals CSKA Moscow who sit in 3rd with 5 more points than Spartak and an extra game to play. Spartak are 4-5-3 away from home, scoring 13 goals and conceding 13.
Spartak have picked up 7 points from their 3 games since losing to Chelsea, including a 1-0 win over Zenit at home. They are unbeaten in their last 4 away games in all competitions and have kept clean sheets in all of those wins.
Ari and Martin Sreanzl have been ruled out but there is more positive news that Alex may recover from an injury in time.
Head to Head
Chelsea have beaten Spartak's local rivals CSKA here in the only time they have hosted a Russian side in European competition.
Spartak Moscow had started with 4 games unbeaten when visiting England, but have found it a tougher test in recent seasons. They had lost 3 in a row before their last visit to London when picking up a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
Prediction
This should be another routine night for Chelsea in the Champions League and I do expect them to book their place in the last 16. The loss of Malouda means I will not risk playing them on the handicap, but I will instead focus on their defensive performances in recent games as well as at Stamford Bridge in general.
Defensively they have proved a tough nut to crack here, and Spartak will be missing Ari up front, so I think I will recommend the home side to win to nil as my pick.
The Pick :
Chelsea 2-0 Spartak Moscow
