Preview: Schalke vs Chelsea - A must win match for the Blues?

Mourinho – It is all about winning

Chelsea face Schalke 04 this evening and have a chance to go top of Group E with a win (and the right goal difference). Chelsea didn’t start the group as they wanted with a 2-1 defeat to FC Basel at home but with a win tonight, it will leave Chelsea in a very good position at the mid point of the group stage.

While Chelsea face Schalke in Germany, FC Basel will be playing Steaua in Romania. FC Basel are currently level on points with Chelsea at the moment so a win for Basel and Chelsea would see the top 3 teams level on points.

Anyway, lets have a look at everything you need to know about the trip to Germany:

Date/Time: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 19:45 GMT

Opponent: Schalke 04

Venue/Location: Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Last Meeting: Last met in the UCL 2007. Chelsea 2 – 0 Schalke and Schalke 0 – 0 Chelsea

Chelsea FC Squad News: Chelsea go into the match with injuries. Marco van Ginkel isn’t expected to return until March after his injury against Swindon and Ashley Cole is still out. Jose Mourinho had mentioned that Andre Schurrle is ready to return though.

Schalke 04 Squad News: Schalke are missing a couple of key players due to injury including Klass-Jan Huntelaar, Jermaine Jones, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Chinedu Obasi, Marco Hoger, or Sead Kolasinac. Jefferson Farfan and Kevin-Prince Boateng are also both dealing with injuries, and will face fitness tests ahead of today’s match. So we certainly won’t be seeing a full strength Schalke side.

TV: Sky Sports 2 HD

What are your predications for tonight? Will Chelsea be top of the group by the end of the evening?