By Alex Roberts
The Swedish side have somewhat overachieved on the continent but that doesn’t mean they haven’t earned the right to be where they are. Wins against more established sides such as Panathinaikos, Legia Warsaw, and Rapid Wien in the quarters have made them a dark horse.
Chelsea are a different beast all together, however. There is roughly £1.3 billion difference between the two sides in terms of squad value, and in this game, money certainly talks.
Cobham have done it again
Tyrique George is the latest Chelsea academy star making a name for himself. Unlike 95% of those that came before him, he’s done it without going on loan first. The youngster has grasped his opportunity and ran with it.
The equaliser against Fulham earlier this month was the moment that put his name on the lips of Chelsea fans across the globe, but in the very next game against Everton, he was only given a few minutes by under-pressure boss Maresca.
He’s got two goals and four assists in just 846 minutes across all competitions so far this season. This is exactly the kind of game that would give George the opportunity to carry on his momentum and fight for a regular place.
The Swedes have problems in front of goal
For those that don’t know, the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s top division, is topsy turvy. It turns out playing football in the country’s harsh winters is ill advised, who’d have thought it, so they play through the summer instead.
Djurgården’s domestic season has only just begun, but they’re struggling. Sitting down in 11th with seven points, they’ve remarkably only scored one goal in their five games, and that came from right-back Adam Stahl.
None of their current crop of forwards have a history of being prolific and coming up against the fourth best defence in the Premier League may just be a bridge too far.
“Play a right-back Enzo”
The Italian coach has come under considerable fire for multiple reasons in recent months, with one of the most confusing being what he is currently doing with the right-back position. Central midfielder Moisés Caicedo was given the nod over Reece James in the 1-0 win over Everton.
At his best, James is one of Chelsea’s most potent attacking threats. That has been nullified by Maresca’s insistence that he inverts into midfield or plays him as a CM from the start.
It’s also impacted Cole Palmer’s form. The playmaker likes to play on the right and drift into the number ten role, without someone overlapping he’s unable to draw out opposition defenders and get into positions that would allow him to score or assist. All this micromanaging has gone too far. Play a right-back Enzo.
Prediction
This may sound a little harsh but we simply can’t see Djurgården getting anything from this one. We’re going to go with a comfortable 3-0 win for Chelsea here.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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