Roma vs Chelsea | Latest Team News | Expected XI’s | Match Prediction

Chelsea can put themselves on the verge of qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win over AS Roma this evening.

The Blues currently sit top of Group C – two points clear of second-placed Roma – after drawing 3-3 with the Italian’s at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago.

With Atletico Madrid taking just two points from their opening three games, a win for Chelsea would take them on to ten points and to within touching distance of the next phase.

However, defeat at the Stadio Olimpico tonight would see Roma leapfrog Chelsea in to top spot while Madrid could close to within just two points with a win over Qarabag so Antonio Conte will be desperate to come away with a positive result.

Team news

Chelsea have been boosted by the news that N’Golo Kante was able to take part in full training yesterday after recovering from a hamstring injury that’s hampered him in recent weeks.

Conte will make a late decision over whether to start the French international or save him for Sunday’s clash with Manchester United but I think we’ll see Kante return to the starting eleven tonight.

However, Victor Moses remains out with a hamstring injury so Davide Zappacosta could start in the right wing-back position while Danny Drinkwater is pushing for a recall in midfield.

Roma will be without Kostas Manolas as the defender is still nursing a thigh injury while summer signing Rick Karsdorp is out with a serious knee ligament injury.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Roma 2-2 Chelsea: The Blues have struggled on the road away to Serie A clubs in recent years as they’ve not won in any of their last five trips to Italy and Roma caused them plenty of problems in the reverse fixture. However, Conte’s side got an excellent result at Atletico by playing on the counter-attack and I can see them taking something from tonight’s match if they set-up with a similar system.