Chelsea vs FC Porto: Preview & Prediction

Chelsea face a season defining night as they hope to seal their passage into the last-16 of the Champions League when they take on FC Porto at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues need a draw to guarantee qualification, as they currently sit top of Group G, level on points with their visitors and two ahead of third placed Dynamo Kiev.

But a defeat, and victory for Kiev against pointless Maccabi Tel Aviv, will see them drop into the Europa League, which they won back in 2013 after they were eliminated at this stage as the holders.

However, under-pressure boss Jose Mourinho, who takes on the club he guided to the Champions League back in 2004, has seen his side lose eight of their opening 15 Premier League matches, including Saturday’s shock 1-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

And despite having lost just one of their five games in Europe, that came in the reverse fixture, as the Blues were lucky to come out only 2-1 losers in September.

Porto will be kicking themselves after missing the chance to qualify when they suffered their first defeat in the competition at home to Kiev last time out.

Now they head to London knowing they’ll probably need a victory to advance to the last-16 for the ninth time in 13 seasons.

In the Primeira Liga, Julen Lopetegui’s side are unbeaten in their opening 12 matches and sit second, two points behind leaders Sporting CP.

And they have a decent record on the road having only lost three of their past 14 European away trips, but Chelsea have won nine and lost just two of 12 previous matches against Portuguese opposition.

Team News:

Captain John Terry returns following an ankle injury and midfielder Ramires is also available after a knock.

Former Porto star Radamel Falcao remains sidelined, while midfielder Cesc Fabregas could be dropped after another poor display against Bournemouth.

The visitors have no major injury concerns.

Group Position: Chelsea – 1st (10 pts); FC Porto – 2nd (10 pts)
Last Meeting: FC Porto 2-1 Chelsea, September 29, 2015
Key Men: Chelsea – Eden Hazard; FC Porto –Vincent Aboubakar
Form (all competitions): Chelsea – WLWWDL; FC Porto – WWLWWW
Shoot Says: Chelsea 1-1 FC Porto