Chelsea continue their Champions League campaign at minnows Apoel Nicosia and Didier Drogba’s absence could be key – get all the best odds and tips here.

Group D Kick-off: 19:45 (BST)

After drawing 0-0 at Atletico Madrid, APOEL are looking forward to their home debut against a Chelsea side “under the right kind of pressure” after a weekend defeat according to Carlo Ancelotti.

APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic, who is without Polish strikers Marcin Zewłakow and Adrian Sikora, is hopeful his side can secure a good result tonight. .

“A team like Chelsea need no introduction,” he said. “They are the best side in the group, a team which wants to win the Champions League and, for me, one of the top four sides in Europe.

“They have excellent players and an excellent coach who has already lifted the trophy. It will be crucial to start well against them, to stand our ground and perform to our best. We are hopeful that we can secure a good result. Even a draw would be good for us but to get a good result we need to exceed ourselves. We have done it before and we can do it again.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelottis is hopeful his players can bounce back from Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Wigan – their first loss of the season.

“There is a good kind of pressure on the team after the defeat at Wigan.” he said. “We are top of the group and we obviously want to win. It won’t be easy because APOEL are a big team with lots of enthusiasm. They did a good job in Madrid, we respect them and we need to play well against them.

“The game against Wigan was a bad day for us and so now we look forward. I want to see Chelsea play like they did at the beginning of the campaign in the Premier League and in Europe.

“APOEL are well-organised in both attack and at the back. They are compact and this could be a problem for us. We need to check Ashley Cole’s fitness after training. If he doesn’t start then [Yuri] Zhirkov will come in. I will decide later whether or not to start with Joe Cole.”

Chelsea continue their Champions League campaign at minnows Apoel Nicosia and Didier Drogba’s absence could be key – get all the best odds and tips here.

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