Dynamo Kiev vs Chelsea
Europa League 2018-19
Round of 16, second leg | (0-3 aggregate)
Venue: Kiev Olympic Stadium
Date: Thursday, 14 March, 2019
Kick-off: 5.55pm GMT
Chelsea will take a healthy lead to Ukraine for the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie against Dynamo Kiev on Thursday night.
Maurizio Sarri's side appeared to take a giant step towards the quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge last week, with goals from Pedro, Willian and Callum Hudson-Odoi wrapping up a comfortable 3-0 victory - their third on the bounce in all competitions.
Chelsea needed a 92nd-minute effort from star man Eden Hazard to rescue a draw at home to Wolves on Saturday and prevent the EFL Cup finalists from losing too much ground in the race for a top-four Premier League finish. They remain sixth with a game in hand over Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United.
Dour Dynamo Kiev barely posed a threat in west London without key attackers Benjamin Verbic and Fran Sol, failing to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
However, they found the back of the net four times in a home derby against Arsenal Kiev over the weekend, with a 4-0 win keeping them seven points adrift of Ukrainian Premier League leaders Shakhtar Donetsk.
Chelsea team news and predicted line-up
Sarri made six changes for the first leg due to the fatigue associated with a hectic fixture list and is likely to rotate heavily in Kiev with such a comfortable advantage and a trip to Everton to come on Sunday.
That should lead to further opportunities for the likes of Willy Caballero, Marcos Alonso, Davide Zappacosta and Olivier Giroud, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi may also earn rare starts.
Marco van Ginkel (knee) is Chelsea's only known injury absentee at present.
Chelsea XI: Caballero, Zappacosta, Christensen, Luiz, Alonso, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Barkley, Willian, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi
Score prediction: Dynamo Kiev 0-2 Chelsea
Dynamo Kiev were flat and utterly devoid of any attacking spark in the first fixture, though will be boosted by the return of Verbic from an automatic one-game ban incurred for his yellow card in the last-32 against Olympiacos.
A Chelsea side likely showing even more changes and no doubt with some key stars left in London could present some vulnerability, but the visitors should still boast enough quality to add further gloss to an emphatic aggregate score.
Betting tips via Betfair | UK users only | Subject to change
Match odds
- Dynamo Kiev: 13/5
- Draw: 23/10
- Chelsea: 23/20
First goalscorer odds
- Eden Hazard: 9/2
- Gonzalo Higuain: 9/2
- Olivier Giroud: 11/2
Click here to find the latest match odds and place a bet.
TV channel and live stream, and online coverage
The match will be televised live on BT Sport 3. BT Sport subscribers will be able to stream the match online via the video player and the BT Sport app.
You can also follow all the action on Standard Sport's LIVE blog.
Dynamo Kiev vs Chelsea tickets
For ticket information, click here to head to Dynamo Kiev's website.
Away tickets went off sale on March 7.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Last week's meeting was the third between these two teams in European competition, with Chelsea boasting two wins to add to a goalless draw in Kiev in October 2015.
