Chelsea resume their 2020/21 Champions League campaign against FC Porto on Wednesday night, in what is the first leg of the quarter-final stage.
The Blues have just two injury concerns ahead of the game against the Portuguese side, with N'Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic both doubtful, but Thomas Tuchel has since revealed that Kante is only set to be fit enough for a spot on the bench.
Porto will be without two of their key players in Mehdi Taremi and Sergio Oliveira, who are both serving one-match suspensions, with goalkeeper Mouhamed Mbaye and defender Ivan Marcano also set to miss this game through injury.
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So, what lineup will Tuchel go with? And, what will the final score be on Wednesday evening?
We used FIFA 21 to have a bit of fun and get a unique prediction ahead of Chelsea's midweek Champions League clash against FC Porto.
FC Porto vs Chelsea score predicted using FIFA 21
To set up this simulation, we used kick-off mode within FIFA 21 but didn't select a team to control. We then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a unique prediction.
The AI difficulty was set to legendary, with the line-up updated with the latest transfers, injuries and suspensions, to make the simulation as realistic as possible.
We predict that FC Porto could set up in a 4-4-2 formation, with the line-up as follows; Marchesin; Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Sanusi; Corona, Uribe, Grujic, Otavio; Diaz, Marega.
We predict that Chelsea could set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with their lineup as follows; Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Ziyech, Mount; Havertz.
Following their home defeat against West Brom, Chelsea did start this European tie strongly in response, but their defensive fragility would become apparent once again.
Despite the Blues dominating possession, the 'home' side took the lead after just 11 minutes following a brilliant breakaway, with striker Luis Diaz finishing well after being played through on goal.
Thomas Tuchel's side continued to have more possession, but this wasn't translating into chances created, with Porto defending their lead well.
And it was exactly the same situation at the start of the second half, because despite having more of the ball, the Portuguese side scored on the counter once again.
It was Moussa Marega who ran clear of the Chelsea defence this time, giving Mendy no chance with a great finish into the far corner.
Predicted FIFA 21 score: FC Porto 2-0 Chelsea
Here are the full-time match stats.
This FIFA 21 simulation predicts that whilst Chelsea will have more possession on Wednesday, if the Blues don't convert that dominance into goals, FC Porto are a real danger on the counter and have the quality to hurt Tuchel's side.
As always, this FIFA 21 sim is a bit of fun ahead of the game, so let's see what happens on Wednesday night. What do you think the score will be?
FIFA 21 is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Additionally, fans who jump into FIFA 21 can also benefit from Dual Entitlement, enabling them to upgrade their copy of the game from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5, or Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S at no extra cost.
All progress made or content acquired within FIFA 21 Ultimate Team (including players, items, coins, FIFA Points, match record, and leaderboard placement), as well as all progression in VOLTA FOOTBALL will transfer over to PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.
