Chelsea will hope to avoid the fate of Liverpool and Manchester United when they face European specialists Sevilla on Tuesday night.
The Spanish club have been a thorn in the side of the English in recent years, dumping the Premier League’s two most historic clubs out of Europe three times in the last four years.
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Liverpool discovered Sevilla’s might in the 2016 Europa League final, while Man United were knocked out of the 2018 Champions League by the LaLiga side before losing to them again in last season’s Europa League semi-final.
Just last month, Sevilla took Bayern Munich to extra-time in the Super Cup, before eventually losing out, but surely nobody will doubt their quality anymore.
However, like Chelsea, Sevilla have started the season with a mixed bag of results, struggling to piece together a consistent run of wins.
With fellow Group E opponents Rennes flying high in Ligue 1, Chelsea and Sevilla may be wary they face stiff competition for the top two qualification spots – so nothing can be taken for granted at Stamford Bridge.
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Team news
Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns following the 3-3 draw with Southampton on Saturday.
Frank Lampard will be delighted to have Thiago Silva available following the defensive shambles against Saints, but goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is still out with a thigh problem, so Willy Caballero may have to deputise after Kepa Arrizabalaga’s latest horror show.
Elsewhere, Hakim Ziyech may get his first start after coming off the bench for his Chelsea debut on the weekend.
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Marcos Alonso is suspended, while long-term absentee Billy Gilmour is still three or four weeks away from returning to action.
For the visitors, Man City and Man United target Jules Kounde will miss out after testing positive for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Sergio Escudero and Oussama Idrissi are both doubts due to injury.
How Chelsea should line up
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