Paris St-Germain v Chelsea: Champions League
It’s Paris St-Germain v Chelsea in the Champions League last-eight first leg qualifier……plus a massive Betfair offer…read on!!!
Jose Mourinho expects his side to respond when they take on Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday following the shock defeat to Crystal Palace. The Blues’ Premier League title bid faltered on Saturday as they were downed 1-0 by strugglers Palace at Selhurst Park.
Mourinho was critical of the performance against the Eagles but he expects Chelsea to bounce back when they take on French giants PSG at the Parc des Princes in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.
“I don’t think I need to do a lot now,” the Portuguese boss is quoted as saying by the Evening Express. “Paris is the kind of match they feel comfortable to play. “A big match, great stadium, opponents with top quality, a profile of referee that normally stops a lot, doesn’t let aggression come into the game.
“I think they will be fine, they will be in their natural habitat in that match so I believe they can do a good match there.”
Team News…..
Left-back Ashley Cole is out with a knee injury while Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah are cup-tied. Fernando Torres is likely to start up front for Chelsea’s Champions League last-eight first leg against Paris St-Germain with Samuel Eto’o injured. Eto’o has not recovered from a hamstring injury sustained in the 6-0 win over Arsenal on 22 March.
PSG have a slight doubt over defender Thiago Silva who is likely to play in a mask after fracturing a cheekbone.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has scored a club record 40 goals in all competitions so far this season, will lead the hosts’ line alongside record signing Edinson Cavani.
The French side are unbeaten in their last 28 European matches at home, dating back to Hapoel Tel-Aviv’s 4-2 win in the UEFA Cup group stage in November 2006, and were only edged out on away goals by Barcelona in the last eight last season.
Manager Laurent Blanc says that form has bred the confidence to attack Chelsea, even if it exposes them to the danger of the Blues’ swift counters.
“We’re going to stick to our philosophy,” said the former Manchester United defender. “If we start getting scared of being hit on the break we’ll play against nature and it’s not going to do us any good. “We know there are going to be counter-attacks and we’ll get ready for that but we are not going to just defend.”
While PSG have won their last nine games, Chelsea come into the match on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace which saw them slip behind Liverpool in the race for the Premier League title.
Statistics…..
- Chelsea have not conceded a first-half goal in any of their last nine Champions League matches
- Chelsea have played PSG twice in Europe before this season and have kept a clean sheet in both matches (excl. qualifiers).
- Chelsea lost their only previous knockout tie against a French side in the Champions League (v Monaco in 2003-04).
- Chelsea have conceded only two goals in their last seven Champions League matches.
- Fernando Torres has averaged a goal every 157 minutes for Chelsea in European competition (15 in 34 apps).
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic has already scored 10 goals in seven Champions League appearances for PSG this season; his best return in a single CL season.
- Paris St Germain have lost just one of their last 16 Champions League matches (W11 D4 L1).
- No side has scored with a higher proportion of their shots than PSG (28.2{70aeb3532cb26dbe277d25ea128ebb74de84b9bd22e1583b0eb1b73768e061f6}) this season in the CL.
- Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in five of their eight CL games this season; a competition-high alongside Man Utd.
- Paris St Germain have scored in 16 successive Champions League matches, netting at least twice in 12 of these games.
Chelsea are 4.0 to keep a clean sheet, so the above trends suggests that this is the big Cash Out opportunity provided by their trip to Paris, with a first-half shutout hopefully enough to open a half-time window for locking in a profit?
It isn’t just in the Champions League that the Blues are impenetrable before the break; they haven’t conceded earlier than the 52nd minute in eight encounters across the board.
Suggested Bets:
Back Chelsea to keep a clean sheet @ 4.0 (with a view to a half-time trade) or
What’s YOUR view?
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