Chelsea have conceded just one goal in the Europa League knockout stages and Slavia Praha have it all to do at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.
Maurizio Sarri’s team defeated Slavia Praha 1-0 in their quarterfinal first leg thanks to an 86th minute Marco Alonso goal.
Sarri made seven changes to his team from the one that previously won in the Premier League, and it took nearly 90 minutes for the Blues to break down Slavia Praha.
The Prague club only need an away goal to turn the tie on its head, but that goal will be difficult to find. Chelsea have not lost at Stamford Bridge in the Europa League this season.
The Blue have won five matches at home outscoring opponents 14-1. Their two home matches in the Europa League knockout stage have each ended in 3-0 wins.
Slavia Praha’s luck could be running out. The Czech club had gone undefeated in the knockout stage until losing to Chelsea at home.
Manager Jindřich Trpišovský’s team has played well away from home gaining a win over Belgium’s Genk before obtaining a draw against Sevilla in Spain.
Slavia Praha have shown they are not afraid of the bigger clubs, but Chelsea’s defence is stronger than anything Slavia Praha have come up against prior.
Sarri has injury headaches going into Thursday night’s Europa League quarterfinal second leg. The Blues will be without Antonio Rudiger as Gary Cahill is expected to be called in from the fringes.
Cahill was frozen out by Sarri, but the centre-back is now needed to fill in for Chelsea’s battered defence.
Chelsea’s Alonso and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could miss out on the game as both are fighting for fitness. Sarri chose to play Eden Hazard against Slavia Praha in the first leg with the forward coming on in the second half.
The Blues lost 2-0 to Liverpool at the weekend damaging their top four hopes. Sarri will want a strong performance against Slavia Praha and could pick his strongest side available to achieve progression to the semifinals.
Chelsea have been unstoppable at Stamford Bridge in the knockout rounds. The Blues are yet to give up a goal and that shouldn’t change on Thursday night.
Slavia Praha have ridden their luck to this point as they dramatically overcame Sevilla in the round of 16. That luck will run out as Chelsea seal progression with a clean sheet victory over their Czech rivals.