Chelsea vs AC Milan
The pick of Wednesday night’s Champions League action sees Chelsea take on AC Milan at Stamford Bridge.
Buoyed after his first win as Chelsea boss, Graham Potter will be looking for a victory to lift his side off the foot of Group E.
A draw against RB Salzburg in his first game in charge was not the ideal result, but he soon got the monkey off his back as Chelsea came from behind to beat Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Conor Gallagher scored their first goals for Chelsea and the former is likely to have a big part to play on Wednesday night.
His instinctive finish at Selhurst Park pulled the Blues level and his sharpness will prove crucial against a Milan side who have conceded in their last six games.
The Rossoneri had the lion’s share of possession in their first Champions League away day at Salzburg. But it was a counter-attacking goal that saw them level and they almost won it late on through another quick-fire move only for Raphael Leao to hit the post.
They are likely to adopt a similar approach in west London against a Potter side than lined up in a 4-2-2-2 formation at the weekend.
RB Leipzig vs Celtic
Celtic face a stiff task to get anything from their trip to Germany with a miserable clean sheet record away from home in Europe.
Under new boss Marco Rose the Bundesliga side looked rejuvenated at home and have produced two convincing wins over Borussia Dortmund and Bochum.
They racked up seven goals without conceding and Celtic will have their work cut out to stop Timo Werner and Christopher Nkunku, who has reportedly agreed a pre-contract with Chelsea.
It’s hard to see anything but a home win in Saxony.
Man City vs FC Kobenhavn
Can anyone stop Erling Haaland? The prolific Norway striker has blasted three goals in two Champions League games this season and his goal tally sits at 17 goals in 11 games.
The Danish champions have it all to do and they do not look in any type of form to halt Haaland and City.
Their home form has been their saving grace. Away from home they have won only one of their last seven matches, including a four-game losing streak in which they have conceded at least twice in each defeat.
Expect Haaland to fill his boots.
Real Madrid v Shakhtar Donetsk
Real Madrid are yet to concede a goal in the competition this season after two straight victories. And they can go a long way to securing their progress from the group stage with a home win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Shakhtar will arrive in Madrid buoyed by a 6-1 victory over Metalist Kharkiv on Saturday. Real though will present a different challenge, even though their nine-game winning run was ended with a 1-1 draw with Osasuna on Sunday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men should have enough to get past a Shakhtar side, who have got goals in them.
Key stats
- The previous meetings between Chelsea and AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League took place 1999-2000 and produced two goalless draws.
- AC Milan have won only one of their last 20 European matches away from home against English opponents
- Celtic have kept just one clean sheet in 34 away Champions League games
- Scottish clubs have failed to win any of their last 13 Champions League/European Cup away games in Germany
- Werner is Leipzig’s record goalscorer and his brace against Bochum took him to 101 goals for the club.
- Christopher Nkunku has scored more Bundesliga goals than any other player this calendar year (19)
- Shakhtar lost twice to Real Madrid in last season’s group stage, including a 2-1 defeat at Bernabeu.
