UEFA Champions League Preview: Chelsea vs Sporting Lisbon

Diego Costa will be looking to get on to the score sheet against Sporting Lisbon

Chelsea will take on Sporting Lisbon in the clash of top two in Group G of the Champions League at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. Irrespective of the end result, the Blues are certain to head into the Round of 16 as table-toppers. They have won 3 out of the 5 games that thy have played thus far, while drawing the other two while Lisbon will be looking to inflict a second-straight defeat on the hosts at home.

The Blues have had a terrific Premier League season thus far but are coming on the back of a loss to Newcastle on Saturday, which brought their unbeaten run of 23 games across all competitions to an end.

Mourinho has confirmed that Diego Costa will also start on the night.

However, The big talking point prior to the game was Mourinho announcing that 18-year-old Ruben Loftus-Cheek would play some part in the game. Loftus-Cheek has been part of the Chelsea set-up since the age of 8 and it would be a big moment for him when he makes the transition from the junior to the senior team.

Sporting Lisbon have their own set of issues with one of their key forward Nani being in major doubt for the fixture after he suffered a thigh injury in his side's 3-1 win over Boavista on Friday.However, that was Lisbon’s fourth win on the trot and they would hope to make it five in a row at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Likely formations for both teams

Key Battles

Diego Costa versus Mauricio

Diego Cost hasn’t scored a single goal in the Champions League and he will look to score his first goal in this match.However, it won't be easy for the Spaniard as he will Mauricio to tackle and it will be interesting to see how Costa matches up to the task.

Eden Hazard versus Sarr

The Belgian has scored just two goals in four appearances of the Champions League so far and will be looking to get on to the scoresheet on Wednesday.However, he will be up against Mouhamadou-Naby Sarr and it should be interesting to see as to who wins this battle of the 21-year-olds.