Chelsea v Lille: Champions League betting preview & free football tip

Football tips, best bets and predictions for Chelsea v Lille in the Champions League.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Tuesday

Best bet

Chelsea-Chelsea double result
2pts 3-4 Coral
Back this tip with Coral

Team news

Chelsea
Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud are out but Antonio Rudiger returns.

Lille
Reinildo (ankle) has joined Adama Soumaoro (thigh) and Timothy Weah (leg) on the sidelines.

Match preview

Chelsea have had to dig deep to stay in control of their Champions League destiny but they can seal qualification for the knockout stages in style by brushing aside Group H basement boys Lille at Stamford Bridge.

The campaign has been far from plain sailing for Frank Lampard's young team, who have shown their inexperience on a few occasions.

But they have gone four games unbeaten since a 1-0 loss at home to Valencia on matchday one and know any victory over Lille will be enough to finish the job.

Lille make the trip with nothing tangible to play for, having picked up just one point from a possible 15.

They haven't always been outplayed but they have offered little on their travels, losing 3-0 at Ajax on matchday one and 4-1 at Valencia last month.

It will be interesting to see how their head coach, Christophe Galtier, approaches the game.

Galtier's team are third in the French top flight and may decide that Friday's league match at home to Montpellier is of greater importance.

However, even if he goes with a full-strength line-up, it should not be enough for them to avoid a fifth defeat of their European campaign.

By far the biggest threat to Chelsea is pacy Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, who has scored 11 of Lille's 23 goals this season. He was on target in Lille's 2-1 loss at home to Chelsea on matchday two and will be eager to add to his growing reputation.

But Lille have few alternative threats and their defence, which has coped fairly well in domestic games, has been found wanting against Champions League opposition.

The backline will be slightly weaker than usual against the Blues because regular left-back Reinildo misses out through injury.

Chelsea will be eager to apply pressure from the first whistle and they have a point to prove after being outfought in a 3-1 loss at Everton on Saturday.

Lampard could not hide his disappointment after the game and will demand more from his players, who were winning plenty of plaudits earlier in the season.

The recent dip in league results, with three defeats in their last four games, is a concern but if it sparks a reaction it could be bad news for Lille.

Chelsea started slowly at Everton but they have often been quick out of the blocks on Champions League nights, scoring first-half goals in three of their last four European games.

They should make that four from five with an early goal against Lille and can go on to register a comfortable victory.