BATE Borisov vs Chelsea Predictions

BATE will have thought they had a decent chance of qualifying from this group when the group stages were drawn earlier this year, but heading into the second half of the campaign and that hope will have faded somewhat.

They did manage to beat MOL Vidi 2-0 away from home in gameweek 1 of the group stages, but a 4-1 thrashing at home to their main rivals for 2nd place, PAOK, dulled their confidence enormously. A 3-1 loss at Stamford Bridge last time out was expected, but they know that their trip to PAOK in the middle of December will be massively important.

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri will be planning to have the top spot of this group wrapped up by then. In fact, come Thursday evening they could have it tied up to leave them free to rest players for the next 2 games.

The Blues sit top of the pile with a maximum of 9 points from their 3 games, 6 points more than the 3 teams below them. A win for them against BATE on Thursday and a draw in the other fixture between Vidi and PAOK would see them guarantee top spot with 2 games to spare.

Considering their current form, a victory does look extremely likely to Sarri and company. Chelsea remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, with 13 wins and 3 draws in all competitions putting them in the hunt for all the silverware available to them.

Away from home they have been just as impressive, winning 6 of their 7 matches and scoring an excellent 15 goals in the process. Their attacking play just seems to get better with every week that goes by, and with Eden Hazard returning to full fitness following a minor back injury they don’t look like slowing down anytime soon.

Naturally, this attacking mindset has produced plenty of goals for us to enjoy. Each of their last 6 competitive games have seen at least 3 goals in total, with these matches averaging 4 goals per game. Considering BATE’s dreadful 4-1 thrashing at home to PAOK we’re expecting an high scoring match here, so we’re backing a Chelsea Win and Over 2.5 Goals along with another 3-1 win for the visitors.