Chelsea and Roma met in the best game of the previous matchday of Champions League action, playing to a pulsating 3-3 draw in London. The two will face off in Group C action in Rome on Halloween as the group stage will be officially at the halfway mark.
What To Know About Chelsea
Chelsea leads Group C with seven points after the draw at home with Roma, and Eden Hazard scored twice, along with a single from David Luiz. They got Alvaro Morata back from injury and Hazard played inspired, and when he does that, Chelsea is a tough team to beat. However, they have a lot of work to do at the back, which is where they’ve been so good recently (well, last season, not this season). Luiz has been up and down, along with Gary Cahill, and the experiment to move Luiz into midfield alongside Tiemoue Bakayoko didn’t exactly protect the back three as it should have. Not to mention, both Luiz and Bakayoko suffered slight injuries that might leave them out of this week’s action in the English Premier League and Chelsea is already without N’Golo Kante. Chelsea has three games leading up to this: a home game with Watford in the league, a home game with Everton in the English Cup and a trip to Bournemouth in the league.
What To Know About Roma
Roma is in second place now, three points ahead of Atletico Madrid, and they got a pair of goals from Edin Dzeko, along with Aleksandar Kolarov. It was a gutsy performance from Roma, who had just lost to Napoli in Serie A and could have given up when Chelsea got a 2-0 lead. However, they pulled themselves up and they might be disappointed not to have all three points as they also lost a lead. Before they meet Chelsea in the return leg, Roma will head to Torino in league action, and then they have two league games with Crotone and Bologna. Sitting at fifth in Serie A, the draw against Chelsea could be a spark to push them up the table.
Outlook
Chelsea is favored as the away team at +150, while Roma is listed at +170 and a draw is rated at +240. The two have met five times in total, with Chelsea scoring two wins and two draws, although Roma has a win and a draw in two games at home. Both managers might want their teams to be a little more defensive in the return leg, especially as both are in the driver’s seat to get to the next round right now. There is still over two weeks before the game, so injuries could happen, so you need to take that into account before making your pick. Chelsea probably won’t have Kante back for that game, so the midfield will have to be better and they can’t be so dependent on Hazard. The same goes for Roma as Dzeko needs some help. However, a low-scoring draw wouldn’t be a surprise as advancing is the main goal.
Champions League Betting Pick: Draw
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