Chelsea take their winning momentum in the Premier League to Prague for the Europa League quarterfinals. We predict a comfortable win over Slavia Praha to set up an easy home leg.
Maurizio Sarri has taken to rotating his Premier League squad in recent games, meaning he either finally trusts players like Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek or he has shifted his priorities towards the Europa League. He should not need his all-out best XI to dispatch Slavia Praha, as the Blues should be able to win without too much hassle.
Olaoluwa Nwobodo: Slavia Praha 0 – 3 Chelsea. The Chelsea players start out relaxed, confident, then, as per usual, will become over confident. They’ll give up a clear goal-scoring opportunity, which Slavia won’t convert (I hope), before waking up to be more serious. One goal in the first half and two in the second, with one right at the very end. A brace for Olivier Giroud.
Mason Plummer: 1 – 3. Chelsea will come out of the gates slow and complacent – mainly due to a poor XI – but eventually will find their way in the tie. Slavia has proven they aren’t a team to mess around with, but Chelsea have their eyes set on the Europa League title. Willian, Ross Barkley and Cesar Azpilicueta to score for the Blues.
Karan Saini: 0 – 2. Willian and Pedro start the game as Eden Hazard and Callum Hudson-Odoi rest for the Premier League game against Liverpool. This should be a tough outing for the Blues, as Slavia Praha will be using all their Europa League momentum to give Chelsea a run for their money.
Barrett Rouen: 0 – 4. Maurizio Sarri will overthink this and rotate too many players, but Chelsea will win. He forgets they’re in-shape footballers and some of them can just handle playing actual football.
Abhishek Pancholi: 0 – 3. Surely, there’s only one way this one ends, right? An easy victory secured with minimum fuss, and key players getting a breather is all I ask for. But a nagging voice inside my head says that Marlboro Maurizio will find a way to make it harder than it has to be. That’s what she said! Anyway, this should be a walk in the park, albeit with a pebble stuck in one shoe.
Kevin Peacock: 0 – 3. Chelsea hold all the aces for this one. Off the back of three straight wins in the Premier League, the good times are returning. If Eden Hazard plays, Chelsea win comfortably. If he doesn’t, Willian shines, performing much better without the Belgian in the team and Chelsea still win comfortably. It’s a win-win situation. Willian to score twice, Olivier Giroud to add to his Europa League tally and Ross Barkley to get a yellow card.
Scott Brant: 0 – 1. Chelsea will do what they always do. They will probably score in the first half and just dodge giving up an equalizer in the second. Giroud to score, because that’s what he does when the Europa lights are on.
Gabe Henderson: 1 – 3. Slavia Praha are a good team, especially at home. They’re coming off a fantastic Europa League comeback and they won’t underestimate the importance of this match-up. Meanwhile, I believe Sarri will. He may make some questionable decisions, but he’s not that big of a fool, he knows the importance of this match and Chelsea have too much quality. In the end, a comfortable win from the B team.
Rupert Meadows: 1 – 3. The Blues know the importance of this competition now and will start strong, but will be met with fierce competition from a Slavia Praha side that have scored 10 goals in their last two games. In the last half hour the game will stretch out a bit more and Chelsea will be able to assert their dominance and win the game.