Chelsea vs Steaua: Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Up, Key Man & Predicted Score

Chelsea entertain Steaua Bucharest at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night looking to finish off the group stages of the Champions League in style.

The Blues head into the final fixture sitting top of Group E and already qualified for the knockout stages, but with Basel just a single point behind, the west Londoners will want to secure all three points tonight to ensure they finish at the summit and with it avoid the possibility of being drawn against the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next phase.

Chelsea slumped to a 1-0 defeat to Basel last time out in Europe while they also went down 3-2 to Stoke City on Saturday, so Jose Mourinho will be desperate to get back on track with a positive showing tonight.

They should be confident of doing so against a Steaua Bucharest side that are yet to record a win in Europe so far this season and sit bottom of the group, with Chelsea easing to a 4-0 win in Romania in the reverse fixture back in October.

Team News

Ashley Cole will make his first start in over a month after losing his left-back berth to Cesar Azpilicueta in recent games. Mourinho praised the 32-year-old’s attitude and confirmed he will be given his chance to impress tonight.

David Luiz is also pushing for a recall after returning to training following a month out with a knee injury, and the Brazilian could come back in to partner Gary Cahill with John Terry rested.

Midfielder Oscar is also back in contention after recovering from an ankle injury but he may have to make do with a place on the bench. Frank Lampard is likely to be recalled while Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba are pushing to replace Fernando Torres up front.

The visitors will be without midfielder Alexandru Bourceanu after he picked up his third yellow card of the group stages against Schalke. Lucian Filip is also missing after being ruled out for up to two months with a leg injury.

Likely Line-Up

Key Man

Eden Hazard: The Belgian was disappointing against Stoke last time out so will be hoping to bounce back with a better performance this evening. He has the ability to cause the visitors all sorts of problems and we think he’ll be the one to watch.

Predicted Score

Chelsea 3-0 Steaua: The Blues will have far too much for the Romanian champions to handle at the Bridge

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