Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from a shocking defeat to rock-bottom Crystal Palace last weekend, when they host AS Roma in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Blues have a 100% record in the tournament so far, having defeated Qarabag FK with ease on the opening matchday at Stamford Bridge, before they had travelled to Spain and managed to grab a last-gasp winner against Atletico Madrid.
The Serie A side will be a side Antonio Conte knows very well, having come up against them on several different occasions as a player and as a manager for Juventus and will be hungry to make sure the defeat to The Eagles at the weekend is just a blip.
Team News
Chelsea will have their work cut out for them in midfield, as N’Golo Kante remains sidelined with a hamstring injury that he had picked up on international duty with France.
The defensive midfielder is expected to be out of contention for at least another three weeks and it showed on Saturday that the Blues missed his presence in the middle of the park.
Danny Drinkwater is still unlikely to be in contention to make his debut for Conte’s side as he continues to recover from a calf strain, however, it is hoped it will not be too long before they can call on the former Leicester City player.
Moses out, Morata in?
Victor Moses is another headache for Chelsea as he had to leave the field in the first half of their defeat to Palace at the weekend with a hamstring injury, with reports suggesting the Nigeria international will be out for at least a month.
However, there is some positive news for Conte regarding Alvaro Morata, as the Spanish striker could return to the line-up after his spell on the sidelines as he returned to training on Sunday, giving the Blues some much needed attacking prowess.
Potential Starting XI: Courtois; Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta; Zappacosta, Fabregas, Bakayako, Alonso; Pedro, Hazard, Morata.
The Italians have been in fine form recently, despite the loss at the weekend, with an unbeaten record in this year’s European competition and will be looking to preserve that when they travel to London.
Roma will be without Kostas Manolas for the trip to the Premier League Champions on Wednesday, as he suffered an injury during their defeat to Napoli at the weekend.
Eusebio Di Francesco’s side will also be without Patrik Schick, Gregoire Defrel and Emerson Palmieri for the Group tie, however, they may be able to call upon Kevin Strootman and Stephan El Shaarawy as they face late fitness tests.
Potential Starting XI: Alisson; Bruno Peres, Juan Jesus, Fazio, Kolarov; De Rossi, Strootman, Nainggolan; Florenzi, Perotti, Dzeko.
Background
The two clubs have not met that often, having only played each other on four previous occasions, with their most recent tie being played almost a decade ago.
The Blues managed to win their home fixture, however, the return to Italy proved to be too much for them as they were heavily defeated by the Stadio Olimpico outfit.
Chelsea have lost just once in their last 15 group matches in the Champions League, which has seen the Londoners advance to the knockout stages 13 times out of their last 14 attempts.