CHELSEA vs. ZILINA- TEAM LINEUP AND BETTING PREVIEW
Chelsea travel to Slovakia tonight to take on MSK Zilina in their Group F Champion League opener.
Underlining Chelsea's confidence leading into the math-up is the fact that Carlo Ancelotti has named his side a day early, handing three players their first start of the 2010/11 campaign.
Other team news includes captain John Terry being declared fit. He will play alongside Yury Zhirkov, whilst Yossi Benayoun starts in midfield behind Daniel Sturridge, who will be linking with an attacking trio including Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka.
Despite not travelling with either Lampard, or Ashley Cole, Chelsea have shown their unparalleled class in this content by announcing that Benayoun will be making his debut for the Blues.
William Hill mark Chelsea as odds on favourites to romp home in this clash at 1.25 to Zilina's 10.0
Here is the Blues line-up for tonight’s clash:
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Zhirkov, Benayoun, Essien, Mikel, Malouda, Anelka and Sturridge
On the goal scoring front- the odds are rather thin- unsurprising when considering the utter class evident in this line up.
With Anelka set at 2.0, Malouda at 2.87 and in form Michael Essien at 4.5, there is great value for money in a match where all three of these individuals would be expected to slot home.
On the Slovakian end however, things are not as rosy with Ceesay favourite to score at an enterprising 5.0
With this considering to be a walkover for the Blues, Ancelotti did point out that Zilina will be as tough an opponent as any, and that there will be no room for complacency...especially in the Champions League.
However, all of these comments seem rather clichéd considering the mismatch that should prevail this evening.
Chelsea are by far the dominant side in English football at present, and following on from United shock draw to Rangers last night, they will be heading out tonight looking to once again stake their claim for football's most sought after club title.