Chelsea FC host Slavia Prague on Thursday night up 1-0 on aggregate in their UEFA Europa League quarterfinal tie, looking to finish off the Czech side and move on to the semifinals. Hopefully, this match, and the festivities surrounding it, don’t include yet another incident of Chelsea fans exhibiting racism and bigotry.
It’s a disturbing trend that has become shockingly quite common in the past year- Chelsea fans exhibiting racism and acting deplorably. In terms of on the pitch concerns, central defender Antonio Rüdiger might be an injury absentee, although this is a game where he might be rested due to squad rotation anyway.
“I hope it’s nothing serious but, at the moment, I am not able to say anything,” Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri said after the German international left the loss at Liverpool early due to injury.
“We need another visit with the doctor and something else to be sure it’s not serious. I am not sure.” The Blues will also be without the injured Ethan Ampadu and Marco van Ginkel as well.
For Prague they will be without the services of Muris Mesanovi, Jakub Hromada and Stanislav Tecl.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction at Slavia Prague (UEFA Europa League Quarterfinal Leg 1/2)
Attack: Callum Hudson-Odoi, Olivier Giroud, Willian
Midfield: Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ross Barkley
Defense: Davide Zappacosta, Andreas Christensen, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso
Goalkeeper: Willy Caballero
Chelsea FC vs Slavia Prague (UEFA Europa League Quarterfinal Leg 1/2) FYIs
Kickoff- Thursday Apr 18, Stamford Bridge 8pm
Odds via Odds Checker- Chelsea 4/11, Draw 43/10, Prague 10/1
Prediction- Chelsea 3, Slavia Prague 0
You can safely bet that both English clubs are going to get through to the semi-final round, and most likely won of the pair will win it all in the end.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.