It's time for a decisive match in UEFA Champions League Group H on Wednesday evening, when Valencia host Chelsea at Estadio de Mestalla. The Spanish team won the reverse fixture 1-0 in September thanks to a second-half goal from Rodrigo Moreno. That was the first ever victory for Valencia over Chelsea after six failed attempts, in which the Blues recorded three wins and three draws. Chelsea have never lost an away match at Valencia, they won two and drew one so far.
Valencia have a good chance of making it to the next round, but it all depends on what they can do in Wednesday's match against Chelsea. The two teams are tied on 7 points and group leaders Ajax are on 7 points as well, but the Dutch champions are expected to defeat last-placed Lille. The ideal result for Valencia would be a win against the Blues, considering that the Spanish side will take on Ajax in the last group match while Chelsea will meet Lille, who are already down and out. Valencia had a four-game unbeaten streak in all competitions snapped last weekend, when they lost 2-1 at Betis in LaLiga. Geoffrey Kondogbia, Cristiano Piccini, Goncalo Guedes and Mouctar Diakhaby are all out injured.
Chelsea had their own three-game unbeaten run stopped last weekend, they lost 2-1 at defending Premier League champions Manchester City and dropped to fourth place in the league table. The Blues have done well so far in the UEFA Champions League this season, especially after starting the campaign with the home defeat against Valencia. Then they won 2-1 at Lille and 1-0 at Ajax, while last time out they recorded a spectacular 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge against the Dutch champions. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Antonio Rudiger are still out of contention for the Blues, while Ross Barkley and Callum Hudson-Odoi are doubts.
Probable line-ups:
Valencia: Cillessen - Costa, Paulista, Mangala, Gaya - Torres, Parejo, Wass, Soler - Gomez, Moreno
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga - Azpilicueta, Zouma, Tomori, Alonso - Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic - Willian, Abraham, Pulisic
My prediction:
Chelsea seem a lot stronger now than they were at the start of the campaign, when they lost at home against Valencia. It's revenge time for the Blues and I think they will get all three points here with a 2-1 win.
Here are the odds for this match at NetBet:
Valencia win - 3.40
Draw - 3.65
Chelsea win - 2.10
