Expect Few Chances in Lille vs Chelsea
It’s a tumultuous time for Chelsea, given owner Roman Abrahomvic’s sanctions and the harsh measures they must abide by for the foreseeable future. The results on the pitch haven’t suffered yet and the defending Champions League winners will try to keep their two-goal cushion at Lille in the second leg of their round of 16 matchup.
Coming into Wednesday’s match, Chelsea are road soccer betting favorites vs a Lille team that haven’t allowed a goal in the three matches since they last met.
Let’s check the latest news, stats, injury reports, and Champions League odds for Lille vs Chelsea. We’ve plenty of predictions for you to consider.
Lille, Jardim With Five Shutouts in Six
Lille have kept three straight shutouts in Ligue 1 and are making a late-season push to qualify for European competition next season. After their scoreless draw with St. Etienne over the weekend, Lille moved up to sixth as Nantes lost 1-0 to Troyes.
Unfortunately, central midfielder Renato Sanches, who leads Ligue 1 in successful dribbles per game, picked up a thigh injury in the draw. He’ll miss at least the next few weeks and Benjamin Andre and Xeka are likely to be the deep lying midfielders on Wednesday.
Regardless, Lille have shown marked improvement on defense in recent weeks and have been a good pick to bet online. The match vs Chelsea is the only time they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six matches. Surely, Jocelyn Gourvennec’s decision to bench keeper Ivo Grbic for Leonardo Jardim has been a big factor in that.
Jardim took over after Lille’s 5-1 loss to PSG and has kept five consecutive clean sheets in Ligue 1 since then. Despite multiple departures last summer, the center back pairing of Jose Fonte and Sven Botman is the same one that led Lille to a Ligue 1 title last season.
The problem is that Les Dogues rely too much on Jonathan David for goal scoring and if Chelsea are able to shut him down, Lille may be out of luck. To be fair, Lille did beat Clermont 4-0 a couple of weeks back but they’re nowhere near Chelsea’s level. LOSC did bring in Hatem Ben Arfa in January and expect him to get some time on Wednesday, especially if they’re still trailing.
Chelsea Thriving on Field Despite Sanctions
Chelsea eked out a 1-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. Kai Havertz, who nearly earned himself a red card for an elbow on Newcastle’s Dan Burn, scored a brilliant goal with just a couple minutes remaining. Havertz is really hitting his stride as he’s scored four goals in his last three matches and has been keeping Romelu Lukaku out of the team.
The shutout was Chelsea’s fifth in their last seven matches and they’ve still played well amid the off-field issues. Owner Roman Abramovich was added to the UK’s sanction list, which has dire consequences for Chelsea. They cannot make any transfers, renew contracts, sell merchandise or have anyone other than season ticket holders attend their games for the foreseeable future.
It’ll be interesting to see how the situation develops but Tuchel and Chelsea haven’t appeared to lose any focus. The Blues have won five consecutive games in the Premier League and have been one of the best soccer picks in recent weeks.
They’ve lost just three matches on the road this season, losing only to Juventus, West Ham and Manchester City. One pitfall for Chelsea heading into Wednesday is that they have six injury doubts. Defender Cesar Azpilicueta and forward Christian Pulisic are dealing with a stomach bug, while Callum Hudson-Odoi has an achilles issue.
Reece James, Marcos Alonso and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are all recovering from various ailments but have a decent shot to be in the squad vs Lille.
Lille vs Chelsea Head-to-Head
Chelsea defeated Lille 2-0 on the road a few weeks back in the first leg. Kai Havertz, getting the nod ahead of Romelu Lukaku, scored an open header after poor marking from Lille. Chelsea were strong defensively and Christian Pulisic added a second for the Blues to cap off a fine outing.
Lille are 0-3 vs Chelsea all-time and have been outscored 6-2 in those matches.
Lille vs Chelsea Game Information
- Game: LOSC Lille vs Chelsea F.C.
- Location: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France
- Date/Time: Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. ET
- Live Stream: fubo.tv
Lille vs Chelsea Betting Lines
Lille vs Chelsea Prediction
A 2-0 lead is often called the most dangerous lead in soccer. That said, expect Chelsea to be organized defensively and not take their foot off of the gas. Lille are going to have a tough time breaking them down and at the other end, Chelsea don’t need to take unnecessary risks.
Go with under 2½ goals in the sportsbook as Chelsea attempt to kill the game and advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
