The penultimate round of the Champions League group stage games sees Chelsea take on Sevilla at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with both sides vying to top Group E having already qualified for the last 16.

The Blues just about beat French side Rennes 2-1, booking themselves a place in the knockout stages last Tuesday, with the winner courtesy of a last-gasp Oliver Giroud header.

The victory rewarded Frank Lampard's side their third European win in a row after drawing 0-0 with Sevilla in matchday one.

Not since their Champions League winning campaign back in 2012 have Chelsea won four straight games in the competition - nor topped their group since 2015/16. 

While Sevilla sealed their last 16 ticket with a 2-1 win against  Krasnodar away in Russia

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Just like their West London opponents, the Spanish club also followed up the stalemate at Stamford Bridge with three straight victories - beating Rennes 1-0 and Krasnodar 3-2 at home, then the latter again away last week. 

League Form

Julen Lopetegui's team enter the clash in fine form thanks to five wins in a row in all competitions, most recently beating Huesca 1-0 to climb up to fifth in La Liga.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's six-game winning run was ended on Sunday in a 0-0 draw to fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, though the Blues unbeaten streak remains intact having now gone 11 games without defeat. 

  • Sevilla form (all competitions): LWWWWW
  • Chelsea form (all competitions): WWWWWD

Recent Meetings

The only previous meetings between the two clubs came in this seasons group stage deadlock back in late October. 

Although, the SW6 outfit have won only one of their last 10 games against Spanish opposition in the Champions League and are winless in six since beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 under Antonio Conte in 2017.

Los Nervionenses, on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with English sides in major European competition (W3 D4) since a 2-0 loss to Leicester City in 2016-17 following the Foxes historic title-winning campaign.

Team News

Lampard will have to strike a very delicate balance in terms of rotation.

Chelsea will want to finish first in their group but given the context of the season, Frank may have to give his fringe players a runout and rest his key players to avoid any form of burnout - with Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell springing to mind.

Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz are expected to start after making cameos against Spurs. 

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Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was not involved in the matchday squad at the weekend, is nailed on to feature having scored in an impressive display in Chelsea's last Champions League clash. 

Giroud will be looking to start up-top, replacing a misfiring Tammy Abraham who missed three golden opportunities to score against Jose Mourinho's Spurs, while Antonio Rudiger, Jorginho and Cesar Azpilicueta are all likely to be in the starting eleven after being unused last time out.

Another player who will hope to feature is Billy Gilmour, who Lampard has now confirmed fully fit after recovering from a long-term injury layoff.

As for the home side, Loptegui is expected to field his strongest team despite facing a tough test against Real Madrid next weekend.

Sevilla will look to count on forwards Luuk de Jong and Lucas Ocampos, who missed training on Tuesday, now they returned from their respective injuries.

While centre-back, Karim Rekik, is likely to fill in for the injured Sergio Escudero at left-back. 

The Spaniards will also be without first-choice goalkeeper, Bono, and forward, Carlos Fernandez, as the pair tested positive for COVID-19, plus midfielders, Marcos Acuna and Suso, remain absent with knocks.

Sevilla vs Chelsea score prediction: 0-1

With qualification secured, top-spot remains in the balance. 

First place will give whichever side the more, theoretically,  favourable tie in the first knockout round and Lampard will know better than most how important finishing top is, after falling 7-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Bayern Munich last campaign. 

Although Sevilla have won their last five games, they have been far from their best at home in the Champions League this season. 

They only managed a narrow win over Rennes and did fall 2-0 behind to Krasnador before clawing back to 3-2. 

Despite this, they did play well in the reserve fixture and the match certainly presents itself as a great opportunity for Chelsea to register a statement victory, as they are yet to beat a top-side this season. 

Both teams are in decent form, so the clash could go either way, but Sevilla are without a few key players so Chelsea might just snatch the win and gift themselves a confidence boost going into the busy Christmas period.

Look ahead

As we are just about getting used to the pace of this relentless season, Chelsea welcome Leeds United - and 2,000 supporters - to Stamford Bridge on Saturday night. 

This will be the first time fans we are able to witness a Chelsea game since March 8, when the Blues won 4-0 against Everton. 

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