Chelsea v Krasnodar: Champions League football predictions & free betting tips

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Chelsea v FK Krasnodar in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 8pm Tuesday

Best bet

Chelsea to lead after 30 minutes
1pt 13-10 Hills

Team news

Chelsea
Hakim Ziyech (hamstring) is out.

Krasnodar
Sergei Petrov and Dmitri Stotski continue to be absentees. Yuri Gazinsky (back) is a doubt.

Match preview

A much-changed Chelsea side blew away Sevilla last week to secure top spot in Champions League Group E, so expect Frank Lampard's reserves to step up to the plate again at home to Krasnodar.

Second-string frontman Olivier Giroud's four-goal demolition of the reigning Europa League champions emphasised that quality in the Blues' brigade runs deep and Lampard will have no worries about ringing the changes once more.

The Chelsea boss can do so from a position of strength – his side are through to the last 16 as group winners – while Krasnodar also have nothing tangible to play for with third place and a Europa League spot banked before kick-off.

To that end, coach Murad Musaev will also surely take this opportunity to utilise his squad players before Sunday's Russian Premier League showdown with Lokomotiv Moscow. Krasnodar are eighth in that division, paying the price for a poor run of form when Covid-19 was sweeping through their camp, and domestic concerns must be central to Musaev's planning.

Krasnodar are one of three Russian sides taking part in the Champions League this season and between them this travel-sick trio have played seven away matches without a single victory.

Chelsea, if Lampard puts out the same sort of side he did in Sevilla last week with Giroud, Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and Jorginho drafted in, should be far too strong.

They will go off at cramped prices that are hard to take issue with given they are on a 16-match unbeaten streak with eight wins in their last nine.

Since a madcap 3-3 draw with Southampton eight weeks ago they have played 11 matches and conceded just three times.

They have also been in front inside half an hour in five of their last nine, so the 13-10 that they are leading after 30 minutes looks a fair option for anyone not interested in backing the Blues over 90 minutes.

Don't be overly perturbed by Krasnodar's 5-0 drubbing of Rotor Volgograd as a measure of where the Bulls are as a side.

That result tells us more about Volgograd, who are bottom of the league after winning promotion. They are out of their depth and played with ten men for an hour at Krasnodar.

Their top scorer is 34-year-old Marcus Berg, who is having one last Champions League swansong a couple of years after heading to the United Arab Emirates.

Their string-puller is Remy Cabella, a fitful performer for a season or so at Newcastle, though the Russians do have a couple of promising youngsters in their ranks, notably 21-year-old anchorman Daniil Utkin.

Key stat

Chelsea are unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions.

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