Chelsea vs Legia Warsaw Prediction: Youngster backed to score

Chelsea already have one foot in the semi-finals of the Conference League after they hammered Legia Warsaw 3-0 in the first leg, but they will return to Stamford Bridge (20:00, TNT Sports 4) looking to get the job done in style. 

The Blues are still in with a decent chance of securing a top-five finish in the Premier League, which would give them Champions League football next term, but they would like to win a trophy this season. Read on for my Chelsea vs Legia Warsaw predictions. 

Team News

Enzo Maresca is expected to revert back to his second-string European team for this one, especially considering his side hold a three-goal lead. We can expect some more youngsters to be given a chance to play, with Tyrique George scoring in the first leg and starting along with Josh Acheampong. 

Those two should start again here while Mathis Amougou and Shim Mheuka will also hope for more minutes having come off the bench in Poland. Christopher Nkunku and Filip Jorgensen may start at opposite ends of the pitch while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall should feature again in midfield. Samuel Rak-Sakyi is on the fringes and will hope for some gametime while it will be interesting to see if the Reece James in midfield experiment is given another chance. 

Maresca has bigger priorities, so expect XI changes from the team that drew 2-2 with Ipswich Town last time out. 

Meanwhile, Legia Warsaw will have to come out and try and attack Chelsea, having played a 5-4-1 in the first leg. Claude Goncalves, Tomas Pekhart and Patryk Kun will hope to come into the XI having been brought on as substitutes in the first leg while Ryoya Morishita will hope to provide more attacking thrust in London. 

Chelsea vs Legia Warsaw Odds

Chelsea are priced at 2/9 to win this game in 90 minutes, while Legia Warsaw are 10/1 to win at the Bridge. A draw can be backed at 6/1 while over 2.5 goals is just 4/11 having come in during the first leg.

BTTS is 10/11 while Cole Palmer is the favourite to open the scoring at 3/1, but in truth the Englishman is unlikely to feature.

Tyrique George to score anytime @ 9/5

I don’t think any of Chelsea’s big guns will be risked for this one, but I’m still expecting them to have a decent night in front of goal. As a result, I think the value lies in backing one of their youngsters to find the net, and the one who leaps out for me is George. The 19-year-old winger got off the mark for the Blues in the first leg and I think he is now emerging in this competition. 

He is almost certain to start again on the left wing and I think he will terrorise Legia Warsaw again. I’m expecting another pretty convincing home win given the disparity in quality between these two, so let’s back George to find the net again at a good price, as he proves his worth to Maresca. 

Chelsea to win to nil @ 23/20 

Yeah, I’m not expecting anything exciting or dramatic to happen at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night. I think we will see a pretty bland fixture, with relatively few goals. However, I will back the home team to come out on top and just like they did last week, they should be able to keep Legia at bay. 

They’ve spent so much money in recent years that you would expect their second-string to be able to deal with this fixture without too much trouble at all. I also think that the odds on offer are relatively generous given what we saw in Poland last Thursday, where Maresca's men limited the home side to just one shot on target. Chelsea can win to nil yet again. 

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