An out-of-sorts Chelsea welcome José Mourinho back to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, as Benfica travel to west London on Matchday Two of the league phase.
The Blues have picked up just a single win since the September international break (against Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup), and their Champions League campaign started with a 3–1 defeat at Bayern Munich, who look like a contender to go all the way this term.
Enzo Maresca’s side have since lost back-to-back Premier League games, and Saturday’s 3–1 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion forced the club to reassert their faith in the manager, who’s currently dealing with a litany of injury absences.
Mourinho’s return will dominate the narratives surrounding this fixture, but the three-time Premier League champion with the Blues has previously resurfaced in SW6 as manager of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur since his second Chelsea exit.
The Portuguese coach succeeded Bruno Lage as Benfica boss after their 3–2 defeat to Qarabağ on Matchday 1, with the Lisbon-based outfit winning two and drawing another under Mourinho’s watch so far.
Here’s Sports Illustrated’s guide to Mourinho’s Stamford Bridge return.
What Time Does Chelsea vs. Benfica Kick-Off?
- Location: London, England
- Stadium: Stamford Bridge
- Date: Tuesday, Sept. 30
- Kick-off Time: 8 p.m. BST / 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT
- Referee: Daniel Siebert (GER)
- VAR: Christian Dingert (GER)
Chelsea vs. Benfica Head-to-Head Record (All Games)
- Chelsea: 4 wins
- Benfica: 0 wins
- Draws: 0
- Last meeting: Benfica 1–4 Chelsea (June 28, 2025) - Club World Cup
Current Form (All Competitions)
How to Watch Chelsea vs. Benfica on TV
Chelsea Team News
Chelsea are once again without Cole Palmer, but they did add loan addition Facundo Buonanotte to their league phase squad, so he’s available to feature on Tuesday night.
Buonanotte was ineligible to face parent club Brighton at the weekend.
Trevoh Chalobah’s suspension only counts towards domestic fixtures, so he could retain his place at centre-back in Levi Colwill’s long-term absence. Colwill and Palmer are the most notable of Chelsea’s absentees, but the Blues are also without Liam Delap, Dário Essugo, Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana. Maresca has also listed João Pedro, Moisés Caicedo and Andrey Santos as doubts.
Benoît Badiashile could come into Chelsea’s defence and make his first start of the season, while Roméo Lavia is also available for selection. Alejandro Garnacho has been on the periphery thus far, but is a contender to start down the left-hand side.
Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs. Benfica
Chelsea predicted lineup vs. Benfica (4-2-3-1): Sánchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo; Estêvão, Fernández, Garnacho; Pedro.
Benfica Team News
Mourinho’s Benfica certainly aren’t without talent, especially in attacking areas.
Vangelis Pavlidis will lead the line off the back of an excellent 2024–25 campaign, having also scored twice at the weekend, while Dodi Lukébakio joined the club in the summer, having emerged as a beacon of hope in Seville. Georgiy Sudakov is a highly-rated Ukrainian playmaker who’s scored twice for Tuesday’s visitors this term, and midfielder Richard Ríos was one of the standout performers at the 2025 Club World Cup.
On the injury front, Manu Silva and Alexander Bah remain out with long-term knee injuries, while Bruma is out for the long haul with a ruptured Achilles.
Benfica Predicted Lineup vs. Chelsea
Benfica predicted lineup vs. Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Trubin; Dedić, Otamendi, Silva, Dahl; Barrenechea, Ríos; Lukébakio, Sudakov, Schjelderup; Pavlidis.
Chelsea vs. Benfica Score Prediction
Is the pressure starting to mount on Maresca, whose team continues to find new ways of shooting themselves in the foot?
While the Italian has previously been able to tweak his framework to add a semblance of unpredictability, his outfit currently looks stale and in need of an injection. It’s hard to see where that will come from in Palmer’s absence.
Mourinho’s arrival means this is doubtless a trickier challenge for the Blues than what it once appeared, even if the "special one" is losing his touch. Benfica are talented and will cause the hosts problems, but Chelsea have an excellent home record in this competition and good things tend to happen when they match up against the Portuguese giants.
Prediction: Chelsea 2–1 Benfica
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea vs. Benfica: Preview, Predictions and Lineups.
