Chelsea vs. RB Salzburg Champions League Group Stage MD 2

A new era begins.

Chelsea welcome Austrian team RB Salzburg to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening for matchday two of this seasons Champions League group stage. Salzburg drew with AC Milan last week and they beat Reid 0-3 over the weekend. They sit top of the Austrian Bundesliga having played eight games, winning seven and losing one. Salzburg have been one of the best clubs when it comes to young and emerging talent and players like Haaland have played for them in recent years. They have also pulled off some surprise results and are a team that should not be taken lightly.

It’s been a crazy week for Chelsea Football Club. The loss to Zagreb was hard to take and then Tuchel getting sacked the next morning was devastating for many fans. Very quickly news began to come out that the club had approached Brighton and Hove Albion manager Graham Potter and he was appointed as the manager on Thursday. The Queen passed away on the same day which meant that domestic football was cancelled over the weekend. Tomorrow’s game does go ahead but Chelsea’s fixture on the weekend against Liverpool has also been postponed. This means that this Salzburg game will be Chelsea’s last game until October the first because there is also an unnecessary international break due to the Nations League.

Graham Potter has had a few training sessions with teams and took his first press conference on Tuesday. He was asked about how risky of a move it was for his career and he replied by saying that there is risk at every corner in life and it’s all about doing the best that one possibly can. Chelsea was too good of an opportunity to miss and the owners had good conversations with him over the last few days. Graham Potter also said that this might be his first Champions League experience at a stadium in any capacity which is just great. Imagine you have never attended a Champions League game and you’re first is as a coach for Chelsea in the group stage.

Graham Potter was also asked about how he would like his team to play and what fans can expect. Potter said that he wants the team to be balanced and work hard off the ball but be responsible and then take it from there. He genuinely looks like he is excited to get to work and just begin this new journey and as a fan I can only reciprocate the feeling. The last week has been exhausting and all I want is for football to just return and for Potter to start working with this team.

Chelsea Team Preview

Chelsea go into this game with Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante out of the squad. The rest are all available, but I have no idea who Potter will select similar to when Tuchel picked his team against Wolves and I similarly had no idea. Potter is known to be pretty flexible with his formations but for the sake of this game I will go with the 3-5-2 that Potter used in his last game for Brighton. I expect Kepa to start in goal with a back three of Fofana, Silva, and Koulibaly. Potter usually uses wingers as wing-backs but I expect Reece James, and Cucurella to start. Chilwell has had good games recently but as he adapts to Potter’s new philosophy I expect Potter to go with Cucurella because he already knows the tactics. Jorginho could start in pivot solely because he gave the press conference but I would like to see Zakaria start in the deeper six role. Kovacic and Mount should feature ahead of Jorginho with a front two of Aubameyang and Sterling. This is just a guess and Potter could go with a totally different formation. There is plenty of talent on the bench to call upon with five subs available.

RB Salzburg Team Preview

RB Salzburg set up in a 4-3-1-2 formation against AC Milan. Kohn is their goalkeeper with a back four of Dedic, Solet, Pavlovic, and Ulmer. Capaldo, Seiwald, and Kjaergaard made up their midfield with Kameri playing behind Fernando and Okafor. On the bench they have talented players like Sesko, and Adamu as well. Okafor is their top scorer with six goals this season while Sesko, Adamu, and Fernando have four each. Fernando has the most assists in the team with five. Salzburg under Matthias Jaissle haven’t differed from the Red Bull philosophy. They like to press and play a proactive form of football. They have speed on the counter and I expect them to use that against Chelsea after seeing the way Zagreb played. With that said no one has a clue how Potter will set Chelsea up.

Starting XI Prediction

The Graham Potter era is going to get underway tomorrow and he will be making his first appearance in the Champions League ever. While I type this Todd Boehly is actively working on a DOF so more change could be seen over the international break. It very much is a new dawn for Chelsea and I am excited to see where the club goes starting tomorrow. COME ON CHELSEA AND COME ON POTTER!!!