Legia Warsaw vs Chelsea predictions: Blues can take early initiative
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- Chelsea hot favourites to claim Conference league semi spot
- Legia Warsaw have strong home record
- Recommended bet: Chelsea/Chelsea - Half Time/Full Time
Chelsea stormed through the group stage of the UEFA Conference league with six straight wins and, having booked their place in the quarter-finals with a two-legged win over Copenhagen, Enzo Maresca’s side will now be confident when they take on Polish outfit Legia Warsaw on Thursday.
Their hosts have lost just one of their last 13 home matches, but a visit from the Londoners represents a step up in class and they are unlikely to be able to live with the Premier League side.
Team news
Legia Warsaw are waiting on late fitness tests for Marc Gual and Bartosz Kapustka, but they will definitely be without suspended defenders Jan Ziolkowski and Artur Jedrzejczyk.
Chelsea are unable to select Wesley Fofana, who is out for the rest of the season, but Maresca is expected to recall Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Marc Cucurella, all of whom began Sunday's goalless draw with Brentford on the bench.
The stats
Just seven of Chelsea’s 32 goals in this competition have come after the hour mark.
The Blues have kept just three clean sheets in their last 19 away matches.
Legia Warsaw have lost just one of their last 13 home games.
Chelsea’s last five matches have featured a total of four goals.
Blues star Palmer has gone 12 games without finding the net.
Prediction
The stats suggest Chelsea could find life difficult when they head to Legia Warsaw, particularly as they have won just one of their last 10 games on the road, but the Blues have been strong in the Conference League this year and represent a huge step up in class for their Polish opponents.
Maresca shuffled his pack for the weekend draw at Brentford and key forwards Palmer and Nicolas Jackson should be raring to go for this one, especially as the Londoners have won their last eight matches in the Conference League.
It looked as if Legia would be right up there with them after they won their first four league-stage clashes without conceding — a run which included a 1-0 home success over Real Betis — but the Londoners are vastly superior to the usual opposition they face in the Ekstraklasa.
Chelsea are an understandably short price in a competition where they have been strong favourites since before the first ball was kicked, but it could pay to back them to be winning at half-time and full-time on Thursday.
They have scored 16 first-half goals in the Conference League this season and scored in the first 10 minutes of recent away matches against Aston Villa, Manchester City and in the FA Cup against Brighton, so expect the visitors to get on the front foot early on.
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