Chelsea vs Benfica prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats
Chelsea look to kickstart their European campaign as they host Portuguese giants Benfica, who will have a familiar face in the dugout on Tuesday night.
Enzo Maresca would’ve been tearing his hair out, if he had any, at the weekend as he saw his side slump to a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Brighton and there’s no rest for the wicked as they have another crucial clash here.
They opened their Champions League league phase campaign with a disappointing 3-1 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, one of the tournament favourites, but now they get a chance to bounce back against Jose Mourinho’s new team.
Benfica have had a tough start to the season, which led to Mourinho replacing Bruno Lage at the helm of the Lisbon-based club, they are third in Primeira Liga and were humbled by minnows Qarabag 2-3 on home soil in their Champions League opener.
Mourinho now has to face the challenge of coming up against the side he’s had so much success against, but it’ll be a tough ask as Chelsea look to get their season back on track.
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You can follow the game on our live score centre.
Chelsea team news
Maresca has plenty of selection headaches, as long-term absentees Liam Delap and Levi Colwill out.
Cole Palmer’s groin issue will likely keep him out until after the international break, while Mikhailo Mudryk is suspended.
Wesley Fofana missed the Brighton game with concussion and is a doubt for this one, while Tosin Adarabioyo is out with a calf issue.
Chelsea expected line-up
Benfica team news
Mourinho has injury concerns too, with Manu Silva and Alexander Bah still out with ACL injuries.
Bruma is also out with a ruptured Achilles, while 19-year-old Gianluca Prestianni is away representing Argentina in the under-20’s World Cup in Chile.
Enzo Barrenechea missed their league win over Gil Vicente at the weekend through suspension, but is back in contention.
Benfica expected line-up
(4-2-3-1) Trubin; Dedic, Otamendi, A. Silva, Dahl; Barrenechea, Rios; Lukebakio, Sudakov, Schjelderup; Pavlidis
Chelsea vs Benfica: How to watch and listen
The game will be live on TNT Sports 1 and is also available to stream on Discovery +. Meanwhile, there’s live radio commentary on Talksport.
Chelsea vs Benfica stats
Chelsea have won all four meetings with Benfica, by a combined scoreline of 9-3.
The most recent meeting between the two was at the Club World Cup, when Chelsea beat Benfica 4-1 in extra time to knock them out in the round of 16.
Since leaving Chelsea in 2015, Mourinho has yet to win a game at Stamford Bridge, losing four games and drawing twice while at Tottenham and Man United.
The referee is Daniel Siebert, the German has taken charge of three Bundesliga games this season, issuing six yellow cards and one red.
Chelsea vs Benfica prediction
Chelsea have the better of this rivalry and on paper they have the better players at their disposal.
But things aren’t quite clicking for the Blues at the moment, so this is a tight one to call, especially with the added element of Mourinho’s return.
One thing this fixture seems to bring is goals, three of four clashes have brought over 2.5 goals and that’s something which has happened in all of Chelsea’s last five fixtures across all competitions, so it’s a worthwhile bet.
Enzo Fernandez has finally started to live up to his massive price tag recently, with four goal contributions this season and you wouldn’t bet against him netting against his former side.
