Dynamo Kyiv vs Chelsea 15/03/19

15 March 2019

After securing a comfortable 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea travel to the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium to take on Dynamo Kyiv in the return leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.

After finishing top of Group K, with a record of three wins, two draws, and a loss, the hosts have eliminated Olympiacos 3-2 on aggregate in the first round of the knockout stage. However, coming back from a three-goal down against a team of Chelsea’s quality seems like an impossible task despite the fact they go into this meeting off the back of a 4-0 home win over Arsenal Kyiv in the domestic championship. Alyaksandr Khatskevich can be encouraged by the fact his team has pulled off all three triumphs at home in 2019, scoring ten goals while keeping a clean sheet in the process. Still, a potential problem for the Ukrainian outfit could be their indifferent home form in the Europa League (W2, D1, L1), especially because they’ve managed to preserve a clean slate only once in four EL home outings.

Meanwhile, the visitors have slipped again in the Premier League, being held to a 1-1 home draw to Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, the London giants have been excellent away from home in the Europa League, securing three wins on four EL road trips (W3, D1). In that period, the Pensioners have scored six goals while conceded three. Chelsea have recently raised their performance on the road, as Maurizio Sarri’s men have clinched back-to-back away wins after suffering four straight defeats in which they’ve failed to find the back of the net. Interestingly, four of five Chelsea’s previous away triumphs have ended with the same 2-1 scoreline, with the Blues breaking the deadlock in the first half in each game.