The Champions League anthem will play for the 2 hundredth time over Chelsea Soccer Membership on Wednesday night time, as we tackle Ajax Amsterdam, one of many legends of this competitors, appropriately sufficient — even when their glory days of the early ‘70s and the mid ‘90s are lengthy gone.
This might be match quantity three of eight on this new league-phase format that we’re nonetheless studying after a pair years. Chelsea misplaced sport one, to Bayern, then beat José Mourinho’s Benfica in sport two. Ajax have misplaced each of their video games up to now, to Inter and to Marseille, with out managing a single purpose. They usually’ve struggled of their home league as properly, sitting solely fourth with simply 4 wins from their first 9 video games. Actually, they’ve only one win from their final six in all competitions.
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Chelsea look like trending in the wrong way, and continued the momentum from the 2 wins earlier than the worldwide break with one other strong win over Nottingham Forest over the weekend. It was an uneven efficiency however a great consequence.
Let’s preserve successful!
Date / Time: Wednesday, October 22, 2025; 20.00 BST; 3pm EDT; 12:30am IST (subsequent day)Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6Referee: Felix Zwayer (on pitch); Söreh Storks (VAR)Forecast: Probability of rain because the night time goes on
On TV: TNT Sports activities 2 (UK); none (USA); Sony TEN 1 (India); SuperSport MáXimo 3 (NGA); Streaming: discovery+ (UK); Paramount+ (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Chelsea crew information: Regardless of the two-week break — and in some methods, exactly due to it — Chelsea’s harm scenario stays precarious. Enzo Fernández (knee) and Wesley Fofana (concussion) have been held out of the sport on Saturday as a precaution. Enzo was again in coaching this week and will function. Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia, who every took half the sport in opposition to Forest, must be accessible as properly.
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Levi Colwill, Liam Delap, Dário Essugo, Benoît Badiashile, and Cole Palmer stay out long-term. Sure, I’m simply lumping Palmer in there now, since he’s out till at the very least December, and I’m personally not precisely hopeful that he might be over his groin challenge by then. We can even be with out João Pedro for this one after he received a second yellow and was despatched off within the remaining seconds of the Benfica win.
Ajax Amsterdam crew information: Ajax completed second within the Eredivisie final season, which by their requirements is a disappointment, although it must be famous that they’ve “solely” gained the league thrice within the final ten years (PSV have 5 within the meantime; Feyenoord the opposite two).
The summer season then noticed a pair key departures, together with Jorrel Hato becoming a member of Chelsea and Brian Brobbey going to Sunderland, with just a few new arrivals to match, together with returning striker Kasper Dolberg and younger attacking midfielder Oscar Gloukh. Dolberg is injured in the mean time; veteran Wout Weghorst is stepping up and turning again the clock, having a great season with 5 targets to his title already to guide the crew.
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Ajax appointed their former participant, John Heitinga as their new head coach in the summertime, however Heitinga, in his first job as a full-time supervisor on the prime degree, is already coming beneath strain. He might be hoping to have Steven Berghuis accessible, one of some health doubts for the guests alongside Ko Itakura and Owen Wijndal.
Beforehand: This might be third aggressive assembly all-time between the 2 sides, after being in the identical group again in 2019-20. The match on the Bridge that 12 months, a 4-4 draw is an all-time basic.