Champions League
2025-11-05 - Qarabag vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League
Wednesday 5th November 2025 - Kick Off 5:45pm
This game is live on TV
Qarabag
No one can dispute that Qarabag have been able to produce stronger results in the UEFA Qualifying Rounds in recent seasons, but getting into the Champions League Group Stage has been eluding them over the last decade. All of that changed this season and Qarabag have won three Qualifying ties to join the elite of European Football and the Azerbaijani Champions are looking to upset the odds by making it through to the Knock Out Rounds in February.
How many would have believed that possible after Qarabag fell 2-0 behind in Lisbon against Benfica on Match Day 1? However, the confidence of this squad shone through as they fought back for a 2-3 win and Qarabag have backed that up by picking up another three points and they are 13th in the League standings. Four more points might be all that Qarabag need from the remaining five Champions League games to prolong their time in the competition beyond this League Phase.
Qarabag have lost 1 of their last 11 games in all competitions and they have won 8 of those fixtures, including wins over Benfica and Copenhagen in the Champions League. The side are unbeaten in 6 games where they have played as hosts and Qarabag have won 4 of those matches.
Chelsea
The fans will always enjoy maintaining the edge over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and the latest Chelsea win over this club came courtesy of a 0-1 win in the Premier League on Saturday. The recent loss to Sunderland aside, Chelsea have been playing with real confidence over the last month and Enzo Maresca will be looking for his team to motor through to the November international break.
The opening loss in Munich might have served as a reminder of the challenges Chelsea are going to face on their return to the Champions League, but the team are up into 11th place in the standings and with 6 points secured. You have to believe the target remains chasing down a top eight spot and earning direct entry into the Last 16 of the Champions League as they look for a third win in a row in the competition.
Chelsea have won 6 of their last 7 games in all competitions and they have shown they can perform without Cole Palmer, despite his obvious influences on the team. The Blues are looking to win for the fifth consecutive time away from home in all competitions having continued the positive run on their travels in the win in North London.
Enzo Maresca will likely rotate some of his squad for this game in Azerbaijan with the Premier League game against Wolves in mind. However, it will be a strong team knowing the importance of three points both on Wednesday and the following weekend.
Head to Head
Qarabag and Chelsea met in the 2017/18 Champions League Group Stage, which is the last time the former have played in this competition past August.
Both fixtures were won comfortably by Chelsea back then.
The game in Baku ended 0-4 in favour of Chelsea in November 2017.
Prediction
The thirty-six team Champions League table does offer some of the representatives from the smaller European nations an opportunity to play with the elite Clubs in the UEFA Confederation.
After three rounds of fixtures, the elimination spots have teams like Bodo/Glimt, Pafos and Kairat Almaty occupying positions, which was expected at the start of the League Phase.
However, one name that is not in those positions is Qarabag and the Azerbaijani Champions head into Match Day 4 with the same number of points as clubs like Liverpool, Barcelona and Chelsea and ahead of others like Atletico Madrid and Napoli.
All credit has to be given to the management staff and the squad having already come through three Qualifying Rounds and so Qarabag have to be respected.
They were well beaten in Bilbao, but the wins over Benfica and Copenhagen will give them confidence, although you do have to favour Chelsea to come through with another three points.
Enzo Maresca's team have found a really good rhythm of late, the Sunderland loss aside, and Chelsea absolutely dominated Tottenham Hotspur a few days ago. Young players have shown some inconsistency in the final third, but a similar performance to Saturday will give Chelsea a big edge and they have won 4 away games in a row in all competitions.
This is unlikely to be as comfortable as Chelsea's 0-4 win in Baku back in November 2017, but The Blues are playing well enough to get on top of an overachieving host and cover the Asian Handicap in a winning effort.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Qarabag 0-2 Chelsea
