Lille OSC - Chelsea FC ai prediction 16.03.2022 Champions League
Betting Tip for matchday 2 of the 2021/2022 Champions League between Lille OSC and Chelsea FC.
With one leg in the quarterfinal after their first leg win, Chelsea will be looking to finish the job when they travel to France for the second leg of their last-16 tie against French Champions Lille at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Wednesday night.
The Blues prevailed 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and all the pressure is now on the home side to try and turn the tie around.
Bet365 and Paripesa offer great options and prices for this game and we will explore a couple of them for our Champions League predictions in this preview.
OSC LILLE
Ligue 1 champions Lille have seen the defence of their title go up in smoke in spectacular fashion. A 0-0 draw against St Etienne saw them drop out of the top 6 and should this hold, this would be a massive disappointment for their fans who packed the streets of Lille just last year for the title parade celebrations.
They are not doing any better in Europe. They face an extremely tough task here to try and get themselves back into this tie after the 2-0 loss in Stamford Bridge in the first leg.
Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side have shown some defensive mettle in recent weeks with five straight clean sheets in Ligue 1 but he will need to bring out some offense along if he is to keep their European odyssey alive.
CHELSEA
Despite the news of the sanctions that have been slapped on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich dominating the headlines around Chelsea, they have seemingly not let that influence their performances on the pitch as they continue picking up wins across the board.
Before the crippling sanctions, they made light work of their hosts at Stamford Bridge with the red hot Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic scoring in each half to seal a comprehensive 2-0 win.
Tuchel’s side have won four games on the trot and they continue holding onto the third slot in the league. They will be looking to finish the job here in their quest to defend their Champions League title.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
LILLE
- Jardim
- Celik
- Fonte
- Botman
- Djalo
- Xeka
- Sanches
- Bamba
- Ben Arfa
- Gudmundsson
- David
- COACH: Jocelyn Gourvennec
- MISSING PLAYERS: Sanches (Muscle)
CHELSEA
- Mendy
- Chalobah
- Christensen
- Rudiger
- Sarr
- Kante
- Jorginho
- Mount
- Ziyech
- Havertz
- Werner
- COACH: Thomas Tuchel
- MISSING PLAYERS: Chilwell (Knee), James (Muscle), Azpilicueta (Illness), Hudson-Odoi (Achilles Tendon)
LILLE VS CHELSEA PREDICTIONS
Chelsea have performed well despite the dark clouds hanging over their heads regarding their ownership and finances. We expect them to continue with the same mentality as they try to put Lille to the sword in this 2nd leg. Lille are likely to commit men forward as they try to get back into this tie and this might work in Chelsea’s favor. We are backing them to score the opening goal of this match @ 1.53 at Bet365 as our first betting tip today.
Both teams have defensive credentials and they could possibly cancel each other on that end of the pitch. We feel the 1st half of this game is likely to be close with limited scoring opportunities either way. Paripesa have the option of 1st Half Under 1.5 Goals priced @ 1.41 and we feel backing this option as our final tip makes for a sound football betting strategy.
Performance
Lille OSC performance of the last 5 home matches