Valencia vs Chelsea 28/11/19

28 November 2019

Valencia and Chelsea go head-to-head in the penultimate UEFA Champions League (CL) Group H encounter at the Estadio de Mestalla. Both sides have no margin for error, as they can both secure progression to the knockout stage with a victory here.

A 1-0 win in the reversed fixture in London has helped the hosts kick-start their European journey, but they’ve struggled to build on that, picking up just one triumph in the subsequent three group fixtures (W1, D1, L1). Interestingly, those two results (win/loss) have seen the winners on the day prevail by a three-goal margin, with Valencia losing at the halftime break on both occasions. The Oranges have not enjoyed the best of times facing the Premier League clubs lately, as they’ve lost five of their last eight such matches. But, they boast a decent European home record lately (W13, L5), although one of those reverses came against the English visitors.

Although they’ve started their European campaign off on the wrong foot, the Blues have racked up a three-game unbeaten CL streak ahead of this trip (W2, D1). While both of their triumphs during that run came via a single-goal margin, that one stalemate was a thrilling 4-4 home draw with Ajax last time out. Additionally, both of their CL wins this term have arrived away from home and saw Franck Lampard’s side come out on top after failing to take the lead into halftime. Chelsea’s offensive game plan usually sparks into life after the break, as five of a total of seven CL goals they’ve scored so far came in the second half. Still, the Pensioners have lost just one of their previous 11 trips to Spain, although they’ve picked up only three wins in those matches (W3, D7, L1).