Two previous UEFA Champions League (UCL) winners clash in London here, as 2021 winners Chelsea take on an Ajax side winless and goalless in the league phase so far.
Match News and Current Form
Chelsea’s form leading into this game couldn’t be much better, as they’ve won each of their last three games after blowing Nottingham Forest away with a second-half blitz in Saturday’s 3-0 win. A gritty 1-0 win here at Stamford Bridge against Benfica on matchday two sparked that run, and winning on home turf in Europe is nothing new for the Blues, who are unbeaten in the last 15 group/league phase fixtures they hosted (W11, D4). Confidence therefore should be sky-high ahead of this landmark evening for the club as they play their 200th game in the UCL proper, and given you’d have to go all the way back to September 2019 for the last time Chelsea lost a UCL group/league phase game at home, they seem good value to mark the occasion with another win.
Ajax could scarcely be coming into this game on the back of a worse set of results, as a 2-0 home defeat to AZ Alkmaar on Saturday stretched their rotten run to one win in six competitive games (D2, L3). Returning to the UCL will hardly provide much respite for a side who’ve lost both of their games in the league phase this term without scoring, and after going down 4-0 against Marseille on the road on matchday two, Ajax will certainly be travelling with trepidation. That defeat is part of a wider theme for the Dutch side, who are winless in their last five games in major European competition - not since September 1989 have they lost six such matches in a row.
Head-to-Head History
Chelsea have shaded the shallow H2H history (W1, D1), while Ajax are winless in their last 11 major European matches against English opposition (D2, L9).
Win ProbabilityOpta by StatsPerform
Hot Stats and Streaks
Only one of Chelsea’s last six UCL games saw both teams score.
None of Chelsea’s last 50 European fixtures ended goalless.
Ajax have only lost four of their last 20 away games in the UCL proper (W11, D5).
Only Monaco (five) have conceded more first-half UCL league phase goals than Ajax (four) after matchday two.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Chelsea’s Reece James closed the scoring against Forest, with that his tenth successive club goal to arrive after half-time. Oscar Gloukh has netted three times across Ajax’s last five games, with two of those arriving beyond the 85th minute to rescue a draw.
João Pedro will be missing here for Chelsea after his red card on matchday two, while injured striker Kasper Dolberg is Ajax’s most notable absentee.
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