The hosts will shift their attention to the Champions League competition after a dreadful experience in the last two Premier League games. The English champions lost 0-1 to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge then lost 2-1 to the struggling Crystal Palace in the weekend. However, The Blues have 100% start to the Champions League, as the English side has won its two fixtures so far. The Londoners routed Qarabag FK 6-0 at home before stunning Atletico Madrid with the 2-1 victory in Spain.
AS Roma travels to England on the backdrop of the weekend 0-1 narrow loss to Napoli, who is currently the Serie A league leaders.
Napoli is the only team in the top European leagues that has won all its league fixtures thus obtaining the maximum points in its eight games played so far. The visitors are unbeaten in the Champions League in this season after earning a critical 0-0 home draw against Atletico Madrid and beating Qarabag 2-1 in Azerbaijan.
Talking points
Chelsea is the last English side to win the Champions League title after stunning Bayern Munich in the season 2011/12 where Didier Drogba scored the winning penalty at Allianz Arena. In the following season, Chelsea made history as the first European defending champions to be eliminated in group stages of the competition. However, The Blues who were relegated to UEFA Cup after finishing third in the group went ahead to win the trophy becoming the first team in Europe to hold the two continental cups simultaneously for days.
The Premier League reigning champions know that a victory over the Italian side will ensure that Conte's side stays on top of the group. The Blues have met AS Roma on four occasions where the Londoners have emerged victors in three encounters with AS Roma winning the remaining fixture.
AS Roma who was runners-up in Serie A last season and has already begun struggling in this term to stay in the fifth position.
The three times Italian champions know that success in London would most likely help in eliminating Atletico Madrid. The Spanish club was a pre-tournament favorite but now on the brink of elimination despite being the runners-up in the last season's event.
Even though AS Roma comes from the olden Rome City, The Magic One has never clinched the title before.
The visitors will be relying on experienced players who have had a stint in Premier League like Edin Dzeko and Kolarov to outperform Chelsea. But, the Italian club has had some awful moments in England especially the 7-1 mauling by Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2007.
Team news
The hosts will miss Victor Moses and N'golo Kante for the action with the duo sustaining injuries in the past games. Danny Drinkwater who joined the club in January transfer window is doubtful to make his debut for the English champions. However, Antoine Conte will be relieved to welcome Alvaro Morata who pulled out in his side's 0-1 defeat to Manchester City and consequently missed the weekend 2-1 loss at Crystal Palace.
Kostas Manola who pulled out in the 0-1 defeat at the weekend against Napoli now joins the injured trio of Rick Karsdorp, Patrik Schick, and Emerson who will not travel to London. Kevin Strootman and Stephan Elshaarawy never featured in the weekend loss with minor injuries are part of the team despite being doubtful for the match.
Predictions
With Alvaro Morata back to the team, The Blues seem to be the favorite to record the third straight win in the competition after missing out in European duties in the previous season. The hosts will put the Premier League woes that saw the West Londoners lose two league games in a row. Antonio Conte's side will be on course to dismiss the Italian opposition in a game that is likely to witness many goals. Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata, and Pedro are likely to get on the scoresheet for the home team while Edin Dzeko will pull at least one back for the visitors.
Final score prediction: Chelsea 3-1 AS Roma
