Malmo vs Chelsea LIVE: Champions League team news, line-ups and more tonight

Malmo vs Chelsea is one of the early kick offs this evening but also in action are Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United. The Red Devils are looking to build off the back of their 3-0 victory over Tottenham at the weekend as Solskjaer hopes to ease the pressure on himself with another Champions League victory over Atalanta.

Ben Chilwell believes Chelsea are thriving due to an absence of egos and insists he never questioned his own abilities during a frustrating start to the season.

England defender Chilwell did not play a minute of his country’s run to the Euro 2020 final in the summer and was subsequently overlooked for his club’s opening six Premier League games.

The 24-year-old, who was initially kept out of the Blues’ starting XI by Marcos Alonso is back in favour at Stamford Bridge and has seized his chance by netting three times in four top-flight outings, in addition to a maiden international goal last month.

The two sides have met three times in competitive football with Chelsea victorious in all three games.

The first two matches were played in the 2019 Europa League round of 32 with the Blues first beating Malmo 2-1 away from home before advancing through the tie with a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

The third clash between these clubs came just two weeks ago when Chelsea bettered their previous win at the Bridge by beating Malmo 4-0.

Based on those results it should be a comfortable night for Thomas Tuchel’s men but in the Champions League you just never know, Malmo give it everything they’ve got and Chelsea will need to be switched on to earn all three points.

Thomas Tuchel makes three changes to the starting line-up that took on Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday. Full-backs, Ben Chilwell and Reece James are out with Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta replacing them and in midfield Ruben Loftus-Cheek sets up alongside Jorginho in the absence of N’Golo Kante.

Chelsea go into tonight’s game as strong favourites since beating Malmo 4-0 two weeks ago. Thomas Tuchel’s side have won two of their three games in the Champions League so far, losing the other 1-0 to Juventus, and sit second in Group H, three points behind the Italian side.

“I think it’s the fifth, sixth game in a row where we are considered as favourites,” said Tuchel. “I like a lot how my team approaches these matches because we put in a lot of effort and a lot of intensity.

“When you say very rightly that Malmo maybe needs an extraordinary performance then I think they will absolutely prepare for this and any team on this kind of level is ready to create an extraordinary performance, so we should be prepared.

“We should be humble and respectful enough towards the game and the opponent and anything can happen. Malmo also has nothing to lose, they can play with a lot of freedom, a lot of courage, they will be supported by an emotional crowd.”

Mason Mount has not travelled with the Chelsea team and is unavailable for their Champions League fixture against Malmo this evening due to illness.

“Mason does not really feel better,” said Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel. “To stop any speculation, it’s not Covid, he’s negative for Covid. He’s just ill and he does not feel good enough to take part in training and of course take part in the trip to Malmo.”

Conversely Christian Pulisic is back in the squad after recovering from an ankle injury and will start on the bench for the Blues tonight.

Malmo XI: Dahlin, Ahmedhodzic, L. Nielsen, Brorsson, Rieks, Berget, Innocent, Rakip, Pena, Nanasi, Colak

Chelsea XI: Mendy, Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso, Hudson-Odoi, Ziyech, Havertz

Thomas Tuchel’s men are looking to take another step closer to the Champions League knockout stages by beating Malmo away from home this evening.

The Swedish side have yet to win a match in the group stages this term with the Blues beating them 4-0 at Stamford Bridge last month. Picking up three points tonight will move Chelsea level with Juventus on nine before the Group H leaders play Zenit St. Petersburg later this evening.

“I think what any manager does in any team is you try not to rely on only one or two goalscorers,” said the boss. “At the same time, you also wish to rely on one or two consistent goalscorers because this is necessary if you want to reach the highest level in any competition. You need consistent goalscoring threats from your strikers.

“In the system that we play, it’s crucial that the wing-backs are there and have the freedom to be dangerous. Defenders need to be dangerous also for set-pieces.

“That’s the way it is right now – still we hope we can put our strikers in the end of the season on top of the list.”

Chelsea put four past Malmo when the sides met two weeks ago and a similar result this time around will leave them close to sealing qualification to the last 16.