Europe’s Very Best
After winning the Champions League trophy in 2021, Chelsea will now look to return to the top step of European club football at the end of the season.
Off To Croatia
After getting the better of West Ham on Saturday via slightly controversial circumstances, Chelsea’s Premier League activities are now put on pause for a few days and with a trip to Croatia scheduled for Tuesday, it means a return to the Champions League for Thomas Tuchel’s men.
Although these men will be slightly different since winning the trophy in 2021 and with a raft of new signings arriving at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s new era under new ownership is now very much underway.
With that said, Chelsea have stuttered slightly on a domestic front and although they edged past the Hammers at the end of last week, they succumbed to an away defeat to Southampton in the middle of it.
Which means the Blues are still something of a work in progress as far as domestic skirmishes ago and with them currently five points off the top of the table, they are going to have to do some work in the month of September.
While there is also work to be done on a European front and although the draw for the group stage was rather favourable to Chelsea, a trip to Zagreb is one that could be something of a banana skin at the same time.
A banana skin that Tottenham have previously slipped on and after taking a 2-0 lead to the Stadion Maksimir in the same season that Chelsea won the Champions League, their Europa League tie with Dinamo would soon be turned on its head.
A rotation that saw a two-goal advantage eventually become an exit in the Round of 16 and with this result still lurking deep in the memory of Tottenham supporters, they will hope that this Croatian outfit can do something similar to their rivals on Tuesday.
However, such a performance may have to be considered wishful thinking and although a trip to Zagreb is one that can often be considered hostile, Chelsea will likely be able to return to London unscathed.
To the point where backing the away win, is going to do little to make the bookmakers sweat and therefore, I am going to dig elsewhere when it comes to value. A dig that takes me in the direction of the penalty market.
Because with continental referees having a penchant for blowing their whistle, this mixed with Chelsea’s attacking aptitude offers a rather tempting punt. One that sees the Blues score from 12 yards at odds of 3/1 with Sporting Index.
While for those who feel that home interest might just make things more interesting, the spotlight must be shone on the very person who dumped Tottenham out of the 2020/21 edition of the Europa League.
The man in question is Mislav Orsic and although a hat-trick on the way to another sensational victory may be out of the question, backing the 29-year-old to open proceedings at 12/1 is by no means out of the equation.
* Betting odds correct at the time of publication. All odds are subject to changes.