Wednesday night action

Porto V Shalke

I really like the look of the home side here. Porto played rather poorly in the first leg but were still only beaten 1 – 0. At home they are a different prospect and have won 10 from 11 this season scoring 24 and only conceding 1. In the group stages they beat both Marseille and Besiktas and drew with Liverpool. Overall, the Portuguese giants have only ever lost one Champions League game at the Estadio do Dragão.
Probable starting XI: Helton - Bosingwa, Bruno Alves, Pedro Emanuel, Fucile - Lucho Gonzalez, Paulo Assuncao, Raul Meireles - Lisandro Lopez, Farias, Ricardo Quaresma

Shalke know exactly what is needed to progress. Holding a 1 – 0 first leg win means that if they score one goal then Porto need at least 3 to go through. They’re away record in Europe surprised many this season with a 2 - 0 win at Rosenborg, before securing an impressive 0 - 0 draw at the Mestala against Valencia.
Despite being beaten by Chelsea at Stanford bridge they played quite well and possibly looked like they lacked the self-belief to take the game to Chelsea as they should have.
Probable starting XI: Neuer - Rafinha, Bordon, Krstajic, Westermann - Jones, Ernst - , Kobiashvili, Rakitic, Streit – Kuranyi

Verdict
Porto at home are a tough nut to crack and can mix it with the best when they play to their capabilities. Realistically this could go either way but the bottom line is that Porto have to win. If Shalke happen to score then I still don’t believe all will be lost for the home side as they are a team capable of scoring out of nothing. I think Porto have enough not only to win here but to progress to the next stage too.

PICK
Porto win (1.75 @ totesport) 5 points
Porto to qualify (2.38 @ paddy power) 3 points



Chelsea V Olympiakos

Chelsea look to be good things here. Greek sides traditionally struggle away from home and playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is a big ask. Add in that Chelsea are finally coming to form and confidence is high after that 4 – 0 drubbing of West Ham at the weekend.
Chelsea don’t tend to give teams big beatings but here they may have to. An away goal may wreck their chances and holding a 1 – 0 lead may be dodgy. This leads me to believe that they will go out and try to get at least 2 goals or 3 just in case their usually dependable defence will be breached.
Olympiakos are in poor condition at the moment. 4 points off the top of the league and their away form is not as impressive as it has been in the past. They are struggling to create any real chances of note and to break down the Chelsea rearguard they will need to create something special.

Verdict
I just can’t see Chelsea conceding tonight and cannot see past a comfortable win. As I mentioned before a 1 – 0 lead is dodgy and they will strive to kill off this game as early as possible. I think Chelsea will be there or thereabouts come final time and can win comfortably tonight.

PICK
Chelsea –1.5 ( 1.83 @ stanjames) 6 points