On Thursday, Chelsea will clash with POAK in a game that seems to be quite interesting.
Chelsea main man Eden Hazard will miss the tie through injury. While the issue is not that serious, Maurizio Sarri is unlikely to risk the Belgian, especially with just 1 point needed from the two games to ensure top spot in Group L of the Europa League. The only other player that is unavailable is Victor Moses, who is suffering from a back injury. Sarri should go with the back four he has chosen to deploy in his last two Europa League games, with Davide Zappacosta, Gary Cahill, Andreas Christensen and Emerson Palmieri all set to start. Up ahead, Olivier Giroud should start after he attempted to ignite a mini-comeback scoring as a substitute against Tottenham. To accompany him, Willian and Pedro should both feature in the starting eleven, with Sarri likely to go for a win after the Tottenham defeat.
There should not be many changes to the lineup that featured against Chelsea last time out in the Europa League. Alin Tosca and Fernando Valera will hold onto their places. But, the right flank should be guarded by Leo Matos while Jose Crespo will likely partner Varela at the heart of the defence. Mauricio and Pontus Wernbloom should continue as the designated partnership in the holding midfield area. Dimitrios Pelkas and Omar El Kaddouri will likely retain their spots, albeit with a slight shift. Pelkas is likely to start in the number 10 role, with Aleksandar Prijovic leading the PAOK attack.
Probable Line-ups:
Chelsea: Kepa (GK); Zappacosta, Cahill, Christensen, Emerson; Loftus-Cheek, Fabregas, Barkley; Pedro, Giroud, Willian.
POAK: Paschalakis; Matos, Varela, Crespo, Tosca; Wernbloom, Mauricio; Limnios, Pelkas, El Kaddouri; Prijovic.
My PlayerzPot XI:
PlayerzPot Prediction:
PAOK will be playing for a win and should create problems for Chelsea. We could be seeing a trepid draw being played out by the two teams at Stamford Bridge.
