Chelsea has comfortably secured the knockout phase in the Champions League but their boss Carlo Ancelotti will surely not take their last group match easy and will still ask from his players to show their best and leave the heart on the pitch. They got eliminated by Blackburn in the Carling Cup 1/4 finals which was very painful for the Blues who desired all 4 trophies this season, which is now just a dream that won`t come true. Therefore I expect Ancelotti to ask for an immediate bounce-back so his team can prove they`re not in crisis and despite some changes in the squad and the absence of players like Terry, Kalou, possibly Drogba, the reserves like Cole, Malouda, Zhirkov are extremely good and can cause a lot of problems for any opponent.
A happy ending
APOEL has lived a fairy tale this season in the Champions League, which is something almost nobody in their squad expected before they started the first qualifying round last summer. But, APOEL has really come a long way and with their disciplined and defensive tactics managed to give hard time to the best European sides, and Ivan Jovanovic`s players will surely try to do that for one last time when they will visit Chelsea at the Stanford Bridge. They might have a few minor absences but regardless they will all surely be very motivated and will go for a win as that`s the only outcome that suits them if they plan on securing the Europa League spot. However, beating Chelsea in London is a bit of a dream for them but I still expect them to play a bit more relaxed and brave this time with the goal of scoring and winning the game, as unrealistic as that might sound.
No more narrow losses
Believe it or not, but APOEL hasn`t lost a single European game by more than 1 goal margin, which really is a surprise to all. Some of you may know that I`ve been fading them in almost all their CL matches and many times I lost, but this is the last opportunity for me to get that money back as I think that Chelsea is the toughest opponent they will face so far in Europe, and that they will hardly avoid at least a 2-goal loss, if not even more, despite the mixed hosts` squad. APOEL has to play a bit more open if they want to record a win and I expect that to hit them back in the head and Chelsea will surely find a way to beat their great goalie Chiotis multiple times as I don`t see how they will settle for just 1-goal win in front of their fans, especially not after their recent slip-ups in the Premiership and the Carling Cup. I`ll try a bet against APOEL for the last time this season. Full stakes.
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Prediction:
Tip: 1 AH (-1.5)
Odd: 2.15
Bookie: Bet365
Stake: 10 /10
Tipster: Kather
