Champions League: Chelsea v Ajax betting preview, free tips and where to watch

Football tips, best bets and predictions for Chelsea v Ajax in Champions League Group H.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Tuesday

Best bet

Chelsea
2pts 10-11 general
Back this tip with bet365

Team news

Chelsea

Antonio Rudiger (groin) has suffered a setback but N'Golo Kante (groin), Andreas Christensen (thigh) and Ross Barkley (ankle) have returned to training. Ruben Lotfus-Cheek (Achilles) is a long-term absentee.

Ajax

Lisandro Martinez (knee), Edson Alvarez (facial injury) and Donny van de Beek (knock) were forced off during Friday's 4-2 win at PEC Zwolle but all of them have travelled to London.

Match preview

Chelsea have not won a Champions League home game in four attempts since defeating Qarabag 6-0 in 2017 but they look worthy favourites to defeat Ajax at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues' 1-0 defeat to Valencia on matchday one put them under early pressure in a competitive section.

Five days later they lost 2-1 at home to Liverpool, leaving them 11th in the Premier League and raising concerns about a team who seemed to be struggling without Eden Hazard.

However, they put in a lively performance against Liverpool and Chelsea have built on it by winning eight of their last nine fixtures.

Praise has been showered on youngsters Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham, who have quickly established themselves as mainstays in Frank Lampard's starting line-up.

But Chelsea have experience in the key central midfield area, where Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic have been outstanding.

They excelled in Chelsea's deserved 1-0 victory away to Ajax, ensuring the Blues had good spells of possession and denying their hosts the chance to build up a head of steam.

Ajax were uncharacteristically sloppy in possession but a lot of the credit has to go to Chelsea, who pressed them far more than they are used to.

That pattern is unlikely to change in London, where Chelsea should continue with their high-energy approach.

Lampard has a few welcome selection headaches to consider with N'Golo Kante, Ross Barkley and Andreas Christensen returning to contention after injuries but he may be reluctant to tinker with a winning formula.

Chelsea's 2-1 success at basement boys Watford on Saturday might not seem overly impressive but their performance was full of creativity and without the heroics of Hornets goalkeeper Ben Foster they would have won by a wider margin.

Ajax have had an extra day to prepare after Friday's 4-2 victory at PEC Zwolle which kept them six points ahead of AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch standings.

But the points came at a cost with midfielders Lisandro Martinez, Edson Alvarez and Donny van de Beek being forced off with injuries.

All of them have travelled to England but if they are short of full fitness Ajax's task will become a lot tougher.

On their last trip to London Ajax recorded an impressive 1-0 victory over Tottenham in the first leg of last season's Champions League semi-final.

However, they are nowhere near as strong since the summer departures of defensive rock Matthijs de Ligt and outstanding midfielder Frenkie de Jong and they may suffer a second loss to Chelsea in a fortnight.