Chelsea so far this season are by far the best team in England, producing excellent performances in each of their first four games and scoring a whooping 14goals thus far.
Schalke 04 on the other hand, is finding life in the Bundesliga cumbersome, with 3 losses and one draw in this season’s league campaign.
Despite their contrasting forms, meetings between the two sides have always proved to be a very competitive affair. We however expect Chelsea to carry the day and here’s are 5 reasons why;
CHELSEA CURRENTLY POSSESS BETTER DOMESTIC FORM
One of the most important things in football is positive momentum. When a team is winning matches consistently and with ease, they are like a moving train that will be incredibly hard to stop.
The team’s psychology is automatically programmed to expect good results anytime they step on the pitch, making them really hard to beat.
Chelsea is currently experiencing this type of form, as they are not only winning matches, but are winning them with relative ease.
Unlike Schalke 04, who are losing matches with relative ease, getting just one point in 4 games.
The London side’s almost perfect form will be a major factor on Wednesday… It might even make all the difference.
HISTORY FAVOURS THE BLUES
The two sides have met on four previous occasions in the Champions League, with Chelsea winning three times and the other match being drawn.
In all those clashes, the Germans did not score even once. Also no German club has ever left Stamford Bridge with a victory.
SCHALKE ARE INJURY PLAGUED
Chelsea has a clean bill of health, with Didier Drogba the only injury returnee.
In contrast, Jens Keller’s side has a number of players ruled out through injury.
Julian Draxler and Klass- Jan Huntelaar are expected to feature, but the likes of Fabian Giefer, Sead Kolasinac, Felipe Santana, Leon Goretzka and Jefferson Farfan, are all set to miss the crucial tie.
CHELSEA’S FIRE POWER
Despite being the better collective unit, the Blues also posse’s technically superior players, Chelsea have in their ranks the most in form goal scorer in Diego Costa and the most in form assister in Cesc Fabregas throughout the whole of Europe at the moment.
Schalke with a couple of their starters injured, simply do not possess any players with equal caliber on their team.
SCHALKE’S STAR PLAYERS NOT A 100 PERCENT FIT
The injury situation although bad could have been much worse, as the German club just welcomed 3 of their biggest stars from injury lay offs.
The trio of Max Meyer, Julian Huntelaar and Julian Draxler although back, are not a 100 percent fit to play at their usual high standard.
Also, crucial is the fact that against a team like Chelsea, anything less than your best will not be good enough.
Even though we are confident that the under fire Jens Keller will eventually lift his team, we are also sure he will suffer another defeat on Wednesday before things begin to change for him.
