Chelsea vs. Dynamo Kyiv: Predictions for a win, hopes for the youth

Thursday night football returns to Stamford Bridge with Dynamo Kyiv facing Chelsea in the Europa League Round of 16. Here are our predictions for the Andriy Shevchenko derby.

Willian is the only Chelsea player to score against Dynamo Kyiv in the modern era. Maybe any era – we’re just going off of what TransferMarkt has for these two clubs head-to-head. The two teams played in the Champions League group stage in 2015: a goalless draw in Kiev, and a 2-1 Chelsea victory at home with a Dynamo Kyiv own goal opening the scoring. Hopefully the Blues won’t need any such help today, nor wait for an 83′ winner as they did the last time..

Scott Brant: Chelsea 2 – 0 Dynamo Kyiv: Chelsea need to put this fixture out of reach – it’s a team they shouldn’t have to worry about. Dynamo Kyiv at Stamford Bridge shouldn’t be too competitive, yet I am still hesitant to act like I know what to expect from them. I do hope the momentum continues, and Chelsea keep winning.

Gonzalo Higuain needs to start burying a few of his chances and get some confidence going. It would be nice to see some subs that aren’t named Ross Barkley, Olivier Giroud, Pedro or Willian. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been seeing some appearances lately, so hopefully Hudson-Odoi gets the same treatment. Big Hig to score two, one from a corner, the other the result of Eden Hazard’s hard work.

Barrett Rouen: 2 – 0. Dynamo actually have a better side than people will think and one of the best academies in European football. That doesn’t matter much, but they have some good players who can hurt Chelsea pretty badly. Hudson-Odoi and Loftus-Cheek should play but they might not. Nothing useful to say really about this except that I hope the Blues win.

Gabe Henderson: 3 – 0. Chelsea’s youth are going to bring a certain spirit to this team that’ll be too much for the Ukrainians to handle. Although there won’t be a ton of youth, guys like Loftus-Cheek, Andreas Christensen and Hudson-Odoi (fingers crossed, although it likely won’t happen) will provide a spark and get the goals going early. Convincing attack, solid defense, great result.

Abhishek Pancholi: 1 – 2. I don’t even know what to expect any more. Maurizio Sarri has shown signs that he is willing to adapt, even if only when threatened with the sack. But as the team’s results improve, I have no doubt in my mind that he will be tempted to revert to his Plan A. Sarri will see the game against Kyiv as an opportunity to roll out his Sarrsmo schtick once again. And boy, will we suffer for it.

An unbelievably dull game will end with a defeat amidst an angry stadium calling for Sarriball to go forth and multiply.

Kevin Peacock: 1 – 0. The Andriy Schevchenko derby will be a tight affair. With the Europa League getting to the latter stages and the minnows out, the games are getting tougher. Chelsea are still difficult to predict but their defensive unit has at least stopped shipping goals.

The game will be cagey and could easily end 0-0, I’m just hoping Chelsea can find a breakthrough. Preventing an away goal for Kiev will be crucial in progressing to the next round.