Chelsea host Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge today in the first leg encounter of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
With midfielder N’Golo Kante sidelined due to the groin injury he picked up when Chelsea took on Manchester United, as well as the absence of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic, Frank Lampard will have a tough time trying to pull a win off on Bayern.
The last time Bayern were in London last year in October, they face Tottenham Hotspurs, beating them 7-2.
On the bright side, he does have the option of playing Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek who are now fit and ready for action.
“Pedro is back in contention having missed With Saturday with a small problem,” The Chelsea manager said before adding:
“Ruben is fit, he’s in the squad.”
With Kante sidelined, it is most likely that Mateo Kovacic will start in today’s lineup alongside Jorginho and Mason Mount.
Chelsea’s predicted line up for today’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich may look something like this:
Caballero; Christensen, Zouma, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Azpilicueta; Willian, Giroud, Mount
Bayern Munich who are competing in their 23rd UEFA Champions League competition after having gone through the group stages undefeated will definitely be giving Chelsea a run for their money at Stamford Bridge.
Currently leading in the Bundesliga, the German giants are today’s favourites in what is turning out to be a ‘David vs Goliath’ match up.
It is still unclear whether Javi Martinez will be cleared for today’s game although he had returned back to training. Niklas Sule and Ivan Perisic will not be included in today’s squad as they are both recovering from injuries.
Bayern’s possible line-up may look something like this:
Neuer; Davies, Alaba, Boateng, Pavard; Thiago, Kimmich: Gnabry, Muller, Coman; Lewandowski.
Bayern are expected to dominate in this first leg match between the two sides, but Frank Lampard will be looking to avoid replicating Tottenham’s thrashing last year by the Bundesliga giants.
