Chelsea vs Maccabi Tel Aviv preview
Chelsea need a confidence-boosting win when they welcome Maccabi Tel-Aviv for their Champions League group opener at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The mood in Chelsea’s camp is not great after a terrible start to the season, capped by last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Everton.
The Premier League champions are languishing in 17th place in the table with three defeats from five league games. Chelsea had the best defence in the league last season, but they are currently the most generous side in England’s top-flight having conceded 12 goals already.
While manager Jose Mourinho has resorted to his customary deflection tactics by insisting that his charges are performing better than the results suggests, he fully realises that Chelsea are a pale shadow of the team that produced scintillating football at the start of last season.
On top of their well-documented defensive problems, their forwards have also been ineffective. Eden Hazard was clearly the best player in England last season, but the Belgian has largely been anonymous this term, while Pedro has been average since his impressive debut at West Brom.
Diego Costa is similarly nowhere near the striker that terrified defenders last term while Cesc Fabregas, who almost broke the league record in terms of assists-per-season, is yet to create a goal this season.
The Blues are still a hungry team and Mourinho will still believe he has enough quality once his side starts to click. He is aiming to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different teams.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv are supposed to be the whipping boys of Group G, but the Israeli champions are viewing Chelsea’s slump as an opportunity to get something at Stamford Bridge.
Their manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, admitted that his team wants to “hurt” and “damage” the Blues on Wednesday. Jokanovic certainly knows a lot about the English champions having played for Chelsea between 2000 and 2002.
Chelsea team news
- Thibaut Courtois is expected to miss around three months because of a knee injury.
- New signing Papy Djilobodji is ineligible after he was excluded from the Champions League squad.
- Oscar could return to the side after missing out recently because of a knee problem.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv team news
- Defender Eliazer Dasa is suspended having been sent-off for former club Beitar Jerusalem in the Europa League qualifying rounds this summer.
Chelsea vs Maccabi Tel Aviv prediction
Gary Cahill is certain to return to the starting eleven after being rested at Everton. That means either Kurt Zouma or John Terry will have to give way for the England international. This could be the best game to drop Branislav Ivanovic, with Baba Rahman coming in at left-back while Cesar Azpilicueta switches to right-back.
Mourinho could also rest Fabregas, which might see Ramires come into the side to join Matic at the base of midfield. Oscar may assume the number 10 position, with Pedro and Hazard on either side. Mourinho will obviously plan for this game with the weekend’s London derby against Arsenal in mind, so Costa could also be rested with Loic Remy coming in as the centre forward.
Chelsea may be struggling, but Jokanovic will be practical enough to target a point in this away encounter. He could set his side up in a deep, compact 5-4-1 formation, with Yoav David Ziv and Yuval Shpungin as full-backs pushing on as wing-backs when attacking.
Midfielder Eran Zahavi is undoubtedly the one to watch for the visitors right now. He has scored in seven of Maccabi’s last 10 league and European matches. He was on the scoresheet for Israel during the international break as well, so Zahavi will be looking forward to his battle with the off-form Ivanovic.
This should be a straightforward win for Chelsea. It could also be a good opportunity for the fringe players to stake their claims with good performances.
Score prediction
Chelsea 2-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
