Olivier Giroud can pave the way for Chelsea

Group L
BT Sport 2, 5.55pm Thursday

Chelsea know a win will secure their passage into the Europa League knockout stage and Maurizio Sarri should send out a side strong enough to complete the qualification job away to Bate Borisov.

The cold conditions won't have been welcomed by the Chelsea players, although that is unlikely to bridge the gap in quality between the sides after the Blues cruised to a 3-1 success over Bate at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.

On that occasion Ruben Loftus-Cheek grabbed the headlines with a hat-trick and this could be the perfect occasion for Olivier Giroud to break his duck for the season.

There is more to Giroud's play than scoring goals but he could well be Chelsea's main attacking threat even though Eden Hazard has travelled to take on a Bate side who were crowned champions of Belarus for the 13th consecutive season last weekend.

Recommendation
O Giroud first goalscorer
1pt each-way 5-1 bet365

Bet on this game at Soccerbase.com

Team news
Bate
Mirko Ivanic has returned to training after missing Sunday's title-sealing success over Neman Grodno.

Chelsea
Marcos Alonso, David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger, Victor Moses and Alvaro Morata have not travelled.

Key stat
Chelsea are unbeaten this season.

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