Chelsea vs Vidi Predictions

After a hectic week which involved back-to-back meetings with Liverpool in the League Cup and Premier League respectively, Chelsea will be somewhat relieved to have a comparatively easy midweek fixture. However, taking any top level match lightly is a recipe for disaster, and Maurizio Sarri will be well aware that his team need to remain driven.

Their clashes with Liverpool can be classed as a success on the most part. They managed a surprising 2-1 win at Anfield in the League Cup, before narrowly missing out on a league victory at Stamford Bridge. They were the best side throughout both matches, and only an absolute stunner from Daniel Sturridge stopped them claiming a well deserved three points on Saturday.

All in all, it’s been a very successful start to life in London for the former Napoli boss Sarri. They haven’t lost a game since their dismal showing in the Community Shield, winning seven of their nine matches since then and staying in the hunt for the Premier League top spot. Their Europa League opener was a narrow 1-0 win away to PAOK, but they will be hoping to make this week a more comfortable affair.

MOL Vidi aren’t exactly heavyweights on the European scene. In fact, this is just the second time they have made it to the group stages since the Europa League was introduced, and their run to the 1984/85 UEFA Cup Final is a distant memory now.

Vidi’s fortunes started to falter after that run, and it was only around 2010 that they regularly started qualifying for European competition again. Still, they struggled to make it past the qualifying rounds, making it to the group stages in 2012/13 but then failing in every season until this one. It’s fair to say that they’re not exactly the front runners for this group.

In fact, their opener was a poor 2-0 defeat at home to BATE, so an away clash against a side much stronger than BATE will be an incredibly tough fixture. The fact that they have only won three of their last 12 Europa League games, many of which were against lesser opposition, doesn’t help matters either.

Vidi have failed to score in each of their last three games in the competition too, and their last group stage campaign saw them lose all three away games and score just once in the process. Chelsea may not be the most defensive minded side, but after keeping four clean sheets in their opening nine competitive games, we like the look of Chelsea Win to Nil here, along with a comfortable 3-0 win for them for our correct score predictions.