Chelsea can move another step closer to early qualification for the knockout phase of the Europa League when they play host to Hungarian champions Videoton on Thursday night.
The Blues made a perfect start to their European campaign by seeing off PAOK two weeks ago and now have Group L top spot, currently occupied by BATE, in their sights.
Chelsea
© ReutersChelsea had an early Willian goal to thank for their victory in Greece last month, as the Brazilian forward blasted home inside the opening seven minutes to earn his side a 1-0 win in what is arguably the toughest of their fixtures on paper.
Maurizio Sarri was not overly pleased with the scoreline, though, claiming at full time that his side deserved more goals from their opening assignment, but in the end the three points were all that mattered.
Stamford Bridge now hosts its first ever Europa League group-stage fixture, with the Blues eyeing goals to overtake BATE in top spot ahead of their double-header against the Belarusian champions over the next five weeks.
Chelsea may be competing in the opening round of this competition for the first time, but they have lifted the trophy in their only previous participation when entering in the round of 32 five years ago.
The Londoners won all three of their knockout-round ties on home soil by a 3-1 scoreline, before battling to a 2-1 victory over Benfica in the final to add some new silverware to their collection.
Much like on that occasions, Chelsea look as though they are going to take UEFA's secondary competition seriously, having made just four changes to their starting lineup for that recent trip to PAOK.
Sarri may be tempted to rotate a little more heavily for this second Group L outing, which is sandwiched between Premier League games against Liverpool and Southampton, but momentum remains key for the Italian, who has yet to taste a competitive defeat as Blues boss.
Chelsea do not tend to lose European fixtures at Stamford Bridge, either, with their last loss on home soil coming against Basel in September 2013, but their last three games in West London have all ended in a draw.
Recent form in Europa League: W
Recent form (all competitions): WWWDWD
Videoton
© ReutersVideoton make the trip to the English capital on the back of three successive wins in domestic competitions, with two of those victories coming in the Hungarian top flight to just about remain in the title race.
Vidi, as they are commonly known, won the title last season - the third time they have done so in the last seven years - but they currently find themselves eight points adrift of leaders Ferencvaros with a game in hand to play.
A slow start to the season could perhaps be blamed on their European commitments, with Marko Nikolic's side already contesting nine fixtures on the continent, including the 2-0 home loss to BATE in their Europa League opener on September 20.
Goals either side of half time from Jasse Tuominen and Filipenko Egor earned the visitors a straightforward victory at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, already leaving Vidi with a mountain to climb if they are to finish in a top-two spot.
The Hungarian side should not be written off entirely, though, as they came close to qualifying for this season's Champions League, coming through three rounds of qualifiers before falling short against AEK Athens.
Videoton beat F91 Dudelange, Ludogorets and Malmo to set up a playoff tie against the Greek club, but a 3-2 loss over the two legs saw them drop into the Europa League.
Like opponents Chelsea, this is their second-ever participation in this competition, six seasons on from finishing bottom of a group that contained Genk, Basel and Sporting Lisbon. Vidi lost all three away games that year but collected six points from their home matches to finish above Sporting.
Nikolic's charges have won just two of their nine European outings in 2018-19, but they are unbeaten outside of Hungary as they have drawn all four away matches. All-in-all, though, three away wins from 23 matches on the continent, stretching over eight European campaigns, suggests that this may be a challenge too far.
Recent form in Europa League: L
Recent form (all competitions): DLLWWW
Team News
© ReutersWith Vidi being the fifth lowest UEFA coefficient of all group-stage qualifiers, Sarri will surely use this match as a change to rotate his side on the back of a gruelling few weeks.
Willy Caballero is in line for a second start of the season, a week on from featuring in the EFL Cup win at Liverpool, while Gary Cahill and Andreas Christensen are options in the heart of defence.
There are question marks over the fitness of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Pedro, who are suffering from a calf and shoulder injury respectively, and both men are expected to sit this one out.
Having lost his place to Olivier Giroud over the past month, Alvaro Morata looks certain to start through the middle, and Victor Moses can also expect a recall in his more advanced wing position.
In terms of the visitors, Nikolic made two changes to his starting lineup for the 1-0 win at Diosgyor on Sunday, bringing in Mate Patkai and Paulo Vinicius for Georgi Milanov and Boban Nikolov.
The 39-year-old must now decide whether to stick with a winning formula or make changes, knowing that Chelsea will dominate possession at Stamford Bridge.
Skipper Roland Juhasz, who is part of Vidi's travelling party, made his debut for former club Anderlecht in a 1-0 Champions League loss at Stamford Bridge in September 2005.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Caballero; Emerson, Christensen, Cahill, Zappacosta; Fabregas, Ampadu, Barkley; Moses, Morata, Hudson-Odoi
Videoton possible starting lineup:
Tujvel, Juhasz, Fiola, Nego, Stopira, Huszti, Hadzic, Milanov, Kovacs, Nikolov, Scepovic
Head To Head
Thursday's clash at Stamford Bridge will mark the first time that these two sides have faced off in competitive action.
The only previous time Vidi have met an English side was in 1985 when famously overcoming Manchester United on penalties in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals following a 1-1 aggregate draw.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have never faced a team from Hungary.
We say: Chelsea 3-0 Videoton
Plenty of changes are expected to be made by Sarri for this first ever Europa League group clash at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea will still be expected to cruise to victory no matter what XI is fielded. The Blues have momentum on their side, even if they were pegged back late on by Liverpool in their most recent outing, and they should keep that going with three more Group L points this week.
