Match Preview: Dinamo Zagreb – Chelsea Prediction and Betting Tips | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Dinamo Zagreb – Chelsea Prediction and Tips for today

Dinamo Zagreb – Chelsea Prediction and Tips for today, September 6, 2022

Football: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – GROUP STAGE – ROUND 1
Kick-off: 17:45 Dinamo Zagreb – Chelsea
Tip: Away Win
Odds: 1.54
Bookmaker: Bet365
Match Result: 1:0 LOST

Dinamo Zagreb – Chelsea Prediction and Match Preview

• Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb kick start their Group E UEFA Champions League campaign (UCL) with a tricky home tie against Chelsea at Maksimir Stadium. It’s the eighth time they’ve reached the UCL group stages, which is an impressive achievement in itself, but they’ll probably need a positive result here if they want to lay foundations to progress past this stage for the first time ever in the competition.
• That looks a tall order on paper, especially as they’ve won only four of their last 19 European clashes against English opponents (D3, L12). Zagreb have at least proven to be a tough nut to crack on their own turf, a point captured by the fact they’ve lost only one of their last 13 home clashes in this competition (W7, D5 – including qualifiers).
• Chelsea’s recent five-game domestic form highlights the inconsistent nature of their performances right now (W2, D1, L2), therefore they might see the return of UCL action as a welcome distraction. Despite their exit at the quarter-finals last season, the 2020/21 winners suffered just two defeats in last year’s edition and are being heavily backed to progress out of the group with ease, especially given they’ve managed to do so in 17 of their last 18 appearances at this stage.
• Starting strong in the group stage has been a key factor behind Chelsea’s success at this stage in recent years and the Blues have proven to be very tough to break down in these competition openers. The London side have only lost one of their last five matchday one fixtures (W3, D1, L1), conceding just one goal across those games while scoring 11 times themselves.
• Players to watch: Mislav Oršić is Dinamo Zagreb’s all-time leading goalscorer in major European competitions with 17 goals (excl. qualifiers), and netted a hat-trick in his last group stage matchday one appearance. For the opposition, Raheem Sterling scored three times in this competition last season for Manchester City, and has bagged three goals in his last three Chelsea appearances.
• Hot stat: Chelsea have lost just one of their last 11 away UCL matches (W8, D2), scoring goals after the 70th minute in each of the last three.