Chelsea vs Malmo: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction
By Tom Gott
Chelsea will look to get their Champions League campaign back on track when they face Swedish giants Malmo on Wednesday.
The Blues fell to a 1-0 defeat against Juventus last time out and now sit second in their qualifying group, trailing the Serie A side by three points, so victory here is almost mandatory if Chelsea want any hope of finishing in top spot.
Fortunately, they're heavy favourites against a Malmo side who struggled on their first outing in the competition in five years. They're bottom of the group and have shipped seven goals in two matches so far.
Here's all you need to know about this one.
How to watch Chelsea vs Malmo on TV/live stream
When is kick off? Wednesday 20 October, 20:00 (BST)
Where is the match being played? Stamford Bridge
TV channel/live stream? BT Sport 3 (UK), TUDN Xtra (US)
Highlights? BT Sport YouTube channel
Referee? Francois Letexier
VAR? Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez
Chelsea team news
Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva are both back in training, but the former may be kept out to protect the back injury that kept him out of the Brentford win. As for Silva, expect to see him given minutes as he gets back into the swing of things following a late international break.
Thomas Tuchel could opt to give some of his fringe players minutes in this one. His team won't be too shaken-up as Chelsea really need the points, but he can afford to turn to the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kai Havertz and perhaps even Saul Niguez if he needs to.
Malmo team news
Star centre-back, Football Manager wonderkid and one-time Chelsea target Anel Ahmedhodzic is suspended for this one, but Malmo also have a boatload of injury problems to contend with.
Oscar Lewicki, Jonas Knudsen and Ola Toivonen have all picked up knee injuries, and Felix Beijmo has a collarbone problem which will keep him out.
Chelsea vs Malmo predicted lineups
Chelsea: Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Sarr; James, Saul, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Havertz; Lukaku.
Malmo: Dahlin; Moisander, Brorsson, Nielsen; Larsson, Rakip, Innocent, Christiansen, Berget; Birmancevic, Colak
Chelsea vs Malmo head-to-head record
These two actually met not too long ago. It was back in the 2018/19 Europa League knockout stage where, unsurprisingly, Chelsea ran out winners.
Goals from Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud fired Chelsea to a 2-1 win in Sweden, before Maurizio Sarri's side ran riot with a 3-0 victory back at Stamford Bridge a few weeks later.
Barkley and Giroud were both on the scoresheet again that day, but the highlight was a glorious solo goal by an 18-year-old Hudson-Odoi.
Chelsea vs Malmo score prediction
Creativity has been a bit of a problem for Chelsea in recent weeks, and they won't be particularly excited about the prospect of coming up against a Malmo defence which is undoubtedly going to sit as deep as possible and hold on for dear life.
That being said, Chelsea should have absolutely no problems dispatching of a side who have shipped seven goals in two games while deploying similar tactics.
Tuchel will expect a nice, confidence-boosting victory, and he'll hope to get it early enough to give some of his heavy hitters a rest.
Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Malmo