Lille prodigy, Victor Osimhen will hope to make headlines as Chelsea Football Club travels to France for their Match day two UEFA Champions League date with Lille OSC.
The Londoners are putting their reliability on youngster, Tammy Abraham on the day he mark his 22nd birthday.
Osimhen and Abraham who are both on the lips of Nigeria footballing supporters over their domestic exploits in recent weeks in addition to the latter international subject matter of the choice of England over Nigeria.
Chelsea make the short trip to face Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday night having suffered defeat to Valencia in their opening fixture in Group H.
Lille went down tamely to Ajax in their first outing of the campaign, ensuring that both clubs are under pressure to perform at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
While Lille initially struggled in the aftermath of allowing Nicolas Pepe to leave for Arsenal, Christophe Galtier has now got his team reproducing some of the form which earned them a place in this competition.
Five points have come from games against Rennes, Strasbourg and Nice, leaving the club in fourth position in the Ligue 1 standings, just four points adrift of leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Lille remain in somewhat of a transitional period given the goals which Pepe contributed last season, although young Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen has shown that there is life after the winger with six strikes and two assists from eight league appearances.
The heavy defeat at Ajax means that Lille realistically must get something from their home fixtures to progress in this competition, but you would not back against this side proving a match for their opponents on Wednesday night.
Chelsea travel to France on the back of their first clean sheet of the season, achieved against Brighton & Hove Albion, but Frank Lampard still finds himself at a stage where he needs more results to match performances.
Losing out to Valencia came as a bitter blow, especially with Ross Barkley skying a late penalty, and it puts more pressure on his developing squad when some of them are still bedding into life in the first team.
While clean sheets have been an obvious problem, taking opportunities at the other end is also an issue, and Chelsea need to develop a ruthless streak on a game-by-game basis.
On a positive note, they displayed one when on their travels against each of Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, with those results perhaps an indication that Lampard's side will be more suited to playing away from home as the season progresses.
Lille form: LWLDWD
Chelsea form: DWLLWW
By Olamide Oyetunji
0 Comments