Chelsea have a 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League, and are currently at the top of Group F having already qualified for the last 16 of the tournament.
However, manager Carlo Ancelotti would undoubtedly want to finish at the top of the group to ensure that his side have a comparatively easier path in the knockout stage. To accomplish this, his side needs only one more point with two games left.
So the former AC Milan boss has decided to hand some of his younger players a run out in Europe’s premier club competition, and has confirmed that young midfielder Josh McEachran will start the game.
This is probably in the confidence that his younger players, coupled with some experience, will be enough to secure the vital point needed to progress as group winners.
But the real opponents on the day will be the hosts themselves, as they are currently battling a poor run of results. The Londoners have lost three of their last four games, which has threatened to see them dethroned from the top of the Premier League table.
So the Slovakian side come along at just the right time, so as to prove to be a confidence booster for the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Playing For Pride
The champions of Slovakia began as the minnows, and have proven to be nothing more as one team after another steamrolled past them. And their last encounter, against Olympique Marseille, saw them fall to a heavy handed 8-0 defeat at home.However, manager Carlo Ancelotti would undoubtedly want to finish at the top of the group to ensure that his side have a comparatively easier path in the knockout stage. To accomplish this, his side needs only one more point with two games left.
So the former AC Milan boss has decided to hand some of his younger players a run out in Europe’s premier club competition, and has confirmed that young midfielder Josh McEachran will start the game.
This is probably in the confidence that his younger players, coupled with some experience, will be enough to secure the vital point needed to progress as group winners.
But the real opponents on the day will be the hosts themselves, as they are currently battling a poor run of results. The Londoners have lost three of their last four games, which has threatened to see them dethroned from the top of the Premier League table.
So the Slovakian side come along at just the right time, so as to prove to be a confidence booster for the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Playing For Pride
And their coach Pavel Hapal was left apologising to the fans for a lousy performance, as he said: "To be honest, I did not want to come to the press conference after the match.
"Not just because we lost by this much but also because the guests from Marseille were clearly the better team during the whole match.
"Our performance today was very, very weak. I would like to apologise in this way to our fans."
Mathematically speaking, Zilina still have an outside chance of finishing third and qualifying for the Europa League. But they will have to make history and score a plethora of goals and register two victories in the remaining two games and hope that either Marseille or Spartak Moscow lose their next two games, perhaps by huge margins. But realistically speaking, they might as well look to salvage some pride in a campaign that has gone all wrong.
TEAM NEWS
Chelsea
Yossi Benayoun (Achilles), Frank Lampard (groin) and John Terry (hamstring) will all be missing for this game, with Didier Drogba still only just returning from a bout of malaria.Alex could delay his surgery and continue to play for the Blues, but with qualification having been assured he may sit this one out. Yury Zhirkov (calf) also remains a doubt for this encounter.
In the meantime, manager Carlo Ancelotti has also assured young midfielder Josh McEachran of a start, with Gael Kakuta, Patrick van Aanholt and Jeffrey Bruma also expected to be involved.
Possible starting XI: Turnbull; Bosingwa, Bruma, Ivanovic, Van Aanholt; Essien, McEachran, Malouda; Anelka, Drogba, Kakuta.
Zilina
Zilina have nothing to lose from the encounter at Stamford Bridge, as they wouldn't have been expected to win it in the first place.
And having been eliminated from the Champions League already, they could go in for an attacking 4-1-3-2 formation to put pressure on a defensive line that has not looked at its best in recent times.
Possible starting XI: Dubravka; Angelovic, Piacek, Pecalka, Mraz; Guldan; Bello, Jez, Skvarka; Rilke, Oravec.
Zilina have nothing to lose from the encounter at Stamford Bridge, as they wouldn't have been expected to win it in the first place.And having been eliminated from the Champions League already, they could go in for an attacking 4-1-3-2 formation to put pressure on a defensive line that has not looked at its best in recent times.
Possible starting XI: Dubravka; Angelovic, Piacek, Pecalka, Mraz; Guldan; Bello, Jez, Skvarka; Rilke, Oravec.
Prediction
Chelsea may be off the mark in terms of getting the right results, but Zilina are unlikely to pose any real threat at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea 3-0 MSK Zilina 
