UEFA EL: Malmo FF vs Chelsea Betting Preview

The Europa League favourites will look to bounce back from a couple of humiliating domestic results as they travel to Sweden to face Malmo who for some people have definitely been a surprise in this tournament

We’ll begin with the away side, the tournament favourites Chelsea. The club is currently going through a very tough period after being inflicted two horrendous defeats by Bournemouth 4-0, then Man City 6-0 in between beating Huddersfield 5-0 which makes it safe to say the team is extremely inconsistent right now and could be on the verge of sacking Maurizio Sarri if this continues.

Europa League could definitely be a good distraction for the English side as they could build some confidence with a win here. Chelsea have done well so far in this competition.

In the group stages, Chelsea dominated by winning 5 of 6 games, drawing the other which was in the last fixture against Mol Vidi where the game had no meaning. Chelsea finished with 16 points above Mol Vidi, PAOK and BATE Borisov in what was a straight forward group to get out of.

Olivier Giroud has performed exceptionally well for Chelsea in this competition having bagged 4 goals in his last 3 games in UEL, and with expectations of starting he’s the man to watch for the Blues.

Chelsea have previously played Swedish opposition 4 times going unbeaten in each, however 3 of those resulted in draws. In both of their previous 2 travels to Sweden they ended up drawing 0-0. Weather conditions could definitely affect the Blues given how cold it is in Sweden and how tough it will be to play in those conditions.

Looking at the home team Malmo, well they haven’t played a competitive game in over 2 months with their last competitive game was Europa League group stages final fixture against Besiktas. Due to Swedish league season ending in November, Malmo couldn’t play any competitive games since the last EL game. They played 4 friendlies in January/February and have been inconsistent with 1W 2D 1L. Competitive game rust could definitely be a factor here for them. 

Malmo were not expected to make R16 but as group underdogs they edged Besiktas for 2^nd place by beating Besiktas in the last fixture away from home in that crazy atmosphere to many people’s surprise 0-1 to secure qualification to R32. Malmo are unbeaten so far in the Europa League at home this season. In fact Malmo are now unbeaten in 8 consecutive European home games (6 of them did end up in draws). Not an easy place to go to for sure.

Forward Marcus Antonsson is the man to watch from Malmo. Since signing with the club last year he’s been very productive. Antonsson is Malmo’s top scorer in Europe with 5 goals in 8 apps including Qualifiers. In total he has 13 goals in 23 apps for the club including domestic competition. Danger man.

Historically, Malmo don’t have much success against English opposition as in 5 meetings they have 1W 0D 4L record against English sides.

This is going to be the first ever meeting between Malmo and Chelsea.

According to Unibet, as expected Chelsea are clear cut favourites to win the 1^st leg tie at 1.45. Malmo are tipped at 8.25 to win while the game to end with a draw is 4.40.

 

Team News

Malmo FF: Oscar Lewicki and Franz Brorsson are both going to have to face late fitness tests and be assessed whether they can play making them questionable while Guillermo Molins is likely to be out.

Chelsea: Marcos Alonso and Ruben Loftus-Cheek did not travel with the squad with Alonso being rested and RLC having back problems. Otherwise everyone else travelled. Expect Sarri to rotate the starting line-up and use 2^nd string players while keeping stars like Hazard and Kante on the bench just in case the game plan doesn’t work.

 

Betting Stats (UEL Stats)

Malmo have covered 50% of their total goal overs at Home in the UEL this season (2-2). Including qualifiers.

Including qualifiers, Malmo have only covered 25% of their first half total goal overs at Home in UEL this season (1-1-2).

Malmo average 2.5 bookings per game at Home in UEL this season (10 bookings in 4 games).

Marcus Antonsson is Malmo’s top scorer at Home in UEL this season with 3 home European goals.

Malmo have covered 50% of their Handicaps at home including qualifiers in the UEL this season (2-2).

Malmo have covered 50% of their 1^st half Handicaps at Home in the UEL this season (2-2).

Excluding qualifiers, all of Malmo’s goals in the Europa League group stages have come in the 2^nd half this season. They have not scored a goal in the 1^st half during the 6 group stage games.

Chelsea have covered 33.3% total goal overs away from home in UEL this season (1-2).

Chelsea have covered 33.3% of their total 1^st half goal overs away from home in the UEL this season (1-1-1).

Chelsea average 1 booking per game away from home in the UEL this season (3 bookings in 3 games).

Willian and Giroud have all of Chelsea’s away goals in Europa League this season. They’ve both scored 2 away European goals each for Chelsea totalling all 4 of their away goals in the competition.

Chelsea have covered 33.3% of their Handicaps away from home in the UEL this season (1-2).

Chelsea have covered 33.3% of their 1^st half Handicaps away from home in the UEL this season (1-2).

 

KICK OFF – 14^th February 2019 – 8pm UK Time