Chelsea look to top Group E as they face injury-ravaged Schalke

Team news

FC Schalke 04:

The German side will go into this game missing several key players, most notable Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfan and the clinical Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Marco Hoger joined them in the treatment room after picking up a knee injury in Saturday’s Bundesliga victory over Eintracht Braunschweig.

With Jermaine Jones and Kyriakos Papadopoulos also on the sidelines, the side will be looking to Kevin Prince-Boateng and Julian Draxler for their inspiration as they look to continue their fine start to this season’s Champions League.

Chelsea

Chelsea have a few injuries of their own, but unlike their German counterparts have adequate replacements waiting in the wings for times like this. André Schürrle and Ashley Cole look set to miss out and join long-term absentee Marco Van Ginkel on the sidelines for the trip to Germany.

Gary Cahill may find himself back in the starting line-up after an error from David Luiz at the weekend saw Jordan Mutch sneak in to put Cardiff City in front. But Samuel Eto’o looks set to keep his place after finally opening his account against the side from the Welsh capital.

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Schalke have started their Champions League campaign with back-to-back victories over Steaua Bucharest and FC Basel, sitting atop of the group with 6 points, 4 goals and yet to concede.

The real test will come on Tuesday evening and if their form against the top team in Germany is anything to go by then they will face a much tougher test when Chelsea come to town. When Schalke hosted Bayern Munich at the Veltins-Arena earlier this season they managed only 1 shot on target and were completely outplayed – barely seeing the ball in the opposition half and culminating in a 4-0 loss.

Chelsea

A shock opening day defeat to FC Basel was not the start Jose Mourinho was hoping for on his return to Stamford Bridge and despite a 4-0 hammering of Steaua Bucharest on foreign soil, the defeat to the Swiss champions will still haunt him.

You can expect a strong line-up to face the German hopefuls, and this is a must-win game if they are to progress from the into the knockout stages as group winners.

Players to watch:

Schalke: Atsuto Uchida

Full of pace, this right-back will cause all sorts of trouble for Ryan Bertrand if he’s given the chance to get forward.

The Japan international has one goal to his name already in the competition and has won an impressive 75% of his tackles to boot. ‘The Special One’ will have to consider his options in midfield on Tuesday evening as both of Schalke’s fullbacks like to get forward when they play at home.

Chelsea: Ramires

Missing for the home defeat to Basel in the opening fixture, Ramires confirmed his importance to the team in the following gameweek as they hammered Steaua Bucharest 4-0 away from home.

The box-to-box midfielder scored 2 and made 2 key passes in the game as he ran himself into the ground for his team-mates. His energy will be needed again on Tuesday night and he will be asked to help out the fullbacks with extra cover so they are not caught out on the break. A respectable pass completion of 83% in the Champions League shows the Chelsea man’s abilities don’t stop at his work rate; he can control the game and make a telling pass when it is needed.

Prediction

Chelsea fans will be expecting nothing less than a win here and although Mourinho will be disappointed if his side don’t take all-three points in Germany, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Schalke are a good side and although they are missing a few key players, they still possess the attacking quality to threaten Chelsea should they get the chance. Barring any defensive errors though, the Blues should just nick this one so get your money on the away side with both teams to score.