Chelsea play the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie against Lille this evening, with the Blues hoping to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Thomas Tuchel's travel to France with a healthy two-goal aggregate advantage, with Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta and Callum Hudson-Odoi potentially featuring in the matchday squad after training with the first team this week. As off-field issues continue to hamper Chelsea, Kai Havertz, who scored the winner against Newcastle United at the weekend, admitted he would pay the club's travel fees if required.
Havertz is likely to continue up front for Chelsea on Wednesday evening following his dramatic late winner against the Magpies, with the likes of Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and Mason Mount competing for the two positions behind the central striker.
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So, what line-up will Tuchel select? And, what will the final score be? We used FIFA 22 to get a Champions League score prediction for Lille vs Chelsea and this is what happened...
Lille vs Chelsea score predicted by simulation
We used kick-off mode in FIFA 22 but didn't select a team to control, letting the AI control both teams. We then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a unique score prediction.
We predict that Chelsea could set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Pulisic, Havertz.
We predict that Lille could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Jardim; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Djalo; Xeka, Andre; Sanches, Ben Arfa, Bamba; David.
Chelsea controlled the first half, dominating possession and creating a handful of chances, with Lille struggling to gain a foothold in the game despite threatening on the counter-attack.
The Blues failed to convert their chances as poor finishing hampered their performance in the first half, with the score level at 0-0 at half-time.
But, Kai Havertz continued his fine run of form in the second half, scoring the opening goal of the game in the 62nd minute.
The German forward found a pocket of space inside the Lille penalty area after Kante had done brilliantly to fire the ball into Havertz's feet. The 22-year-old turned sharply and whipped the ball into the bottom left corner past Jardim, giving the away side a 1-0 lead on the night, and a 3-0 lead on aggregate.
But the home side responded well and equalised 12 minutes later through Benjamin Andre, as the French midfielder produced an excellent volley that flew into the back of the net past Edouard Mendy.
Andre started the move by playing the ball wide towards Renato Sanches, who floated a lofted pass over the Chelsea defence as Andre continued his run into the penalty box and volleyed a shot past Mendy into the bottom corner.
Substitute Burak Yilmaz made the final few minutes of the game nervy for the Blues, as the Turkish striker put Lille 2-1 ahead on the night with a low-driven shot past Mendy, as Rudiger failed to track his run and block the shot.
However, Chelsea held on to maintain their 3-2 aggregate lead, with Tuchel's side progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Lille 2-1 Chelsea (Chelsea win tie 2-3 on aggregate)
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that Chelsea could control possession against Lille and take the lead just after the hour mark through Havertz, who made the difference over both legs. The Blues could struggle to contain the French side in the final 20 minutes as Andre and Yilmaz both scored to make the final moments of the game nervy for Chelsea fans, but the game also predicts that Tuchel's side will hold on and progress to the next round of the Champions League.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
