Chelsea can clinch their Europa League group with a draw or better against PAOK at Stamford Bridge. It may not be the loftiest goal, but it could help put the previous game out of everyone’s mind for a bit.
Chelsea fans take a deep breath and prepare for the team’s 20th game of the season. Without dwelling on Saturday’s defeat against Tottenham, a single point at home to PAOK Salonika in Europe’s second-class cup competition, the Europa League, sees Chelsea into the knock-out phase in the new year.
In the reverse fixture at the start of the campaign, Maurizio Sarri coaxed his fledgling side to a slender 1-0 victory. The margin was small but the victory was comfortable enough. It was a night for Willian to celebrate as he scored the only goal and captained the side for the first time. Ross Barkley contributed his first assist in Chelsea blue.
PAOK for their part didn’t really present much in the way of opposition, managing just one shot on target. If the home tie plays out the same way Sarri will achieve what he set out to do back in September, but he knows the competition is a big strain on the resources of a team competing in the Premier League.
"For an English team the Europa League is a very difficult competition. In Italy, if I play in Greece on Thursday I can ask to play on Monday night, but I have to play again in 63 hours. I don’t know in the future. It is not a big problem now because we have played only six matches but in the future, it may be a problem. I hope to qualify before the last one or two matches of the group stage. – BBC"
Of course, with one or two cracks beginning to appear in the system Sarri has based his managerial career on, his team selection will attract much speculation – probably too much. It’s unlikely there will be much in way of variation from the other Europa League games, though. The Italian will want to secure that top-of-the-group spot before going full-on youth in the final dead rubber away at MOL Vidi on December 13.
This means Callum Hudson-Odoi will likely start on the bench, even as Eden Hazard and Victor Moses are unavailable through injury. Ethan Ampadu may again make the matchday squad, but Andreas Christensen will be the closest thing to a youth player in the back line.
Other than securing the supposedly preferred group-leader berth in the knockout rounds, the goal will be tamping down some of the hysterics around the club, the last performance and Sarri’s press conference.
The Blues have provided a buffet for the over-analytical types in the last few days. A commanding win may not fully satisfy them, particularly not against a team so far down the UEFA club rankings, but it may bring some level of confidence back to the supporters ahead of the reunion with an old friend, Claudio Ranieri, this weekend.