Chelsea travels to Sweden to take on Malmo for the reverse fixture in the Champions League. The Blues currently sit second in Group H and if they want a chance at winning their group, they’ll need to pile on the goals on Tuesday. The last time out, Thomas Tuchel’s men ran away with the contest, winning 4-0 in front of a jam-packed Stamford Bridge. Tuchel fielded a strong squad, so the question heading into the reverse fixture is whether or not a heavily rotated team will be able to get the job done. The squad is missing N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Romelu Lukaku Mason Mount and Timo Werner. It was able to get past Newcastle at the weekend, Malmo is a different animal though.
Here is how The Pride of London team sees the contest playing out:
Mike Malley: 0-4 Chelsea
Same result as the last time these two teams met. Chelsea is simply on a different level than the Swedish champs, and no amount of squad rotation is going to change that. Hopefully the Blues will put the match away early and avoid any more serious injuries this time out.
Tan Yi Hao: 0-4 Chelsea
Tuchel leaving Kante back in London is indication enough as to what kind of game he is expecting versus Malmo. 4-0 to the Blues with Ross Barkley most likely starting and Kai Havertz to net at least one.
Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 0-4 Chelsea
The Blues have already played the most difficult Group H fixture. This one should be significantly easier. Hakim Ziyech to score two and assist two and the narrative around him goes a full 180° instantly—just like that.
Akshat Mehrish: 0-5 Chelsea
Malmo looked completely devoid of ideas the last time these two teams met, one expects that to be the case again on Tuesday night. There are bound to be some changes—forced, more than anything—but that provides an opportunity for the fringe players to make their mark and move closer to the first team.
Leighton September: 0-2 Chelsea
The Blues will just be a class above their opponents. A huge positive will be to see how many minutes Christian Pulisic gets in this game. Other than that, the visitors should cruise to a win.
Abhishek Pancholi: 0-3 Chelsea
A relatively easy game with KAI Havertz scoring a couple and Ben Chilwell adding another screamer to his collection.
Barrett Rouen: 0-2 Chelsea
I just think we’ll win.
Hugo Amaya: 0-2 Chelsea
Another strong performance from the Blues. Tuchel will give a start to some players that deserve it and will rest other that need it. However, the result will be all the same with the European Champions dominating the entire match. Loftus-Cheek and Barkley on the score sheet.
Varun Dani: 0-3 Chelsea
The Blues might be tired from the congested fixture list and a few untimed injuries, but not tired enough to not win this game comfortably. Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi and Barkley will each score to potentially help the European Champions rise to the top of the group.
Anthony Gatt: 0-3 Chelsea
Gabe Henderson: 1-3 Chelsea
A heavily rotated side will still be more than enough to overpower its Swedish hosts. The Blues have been on fire recently and this contest will be no different. Nevertheless, Malmo will have a full stadium for the first time in almost two years and Tuchel’s team won’t be as strong, so expect a “close” game on paper.
What is your score prediction? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!