Chelsea vs. Real Madrid Predictions: Casemiro to enter referee's book at the Bridge

Live on BT Sports, the current Champions of Europe Chelsea host Real Madrid in the 1st leg of this UCL quarterfinal at Stamford Bridge this Wednesday. There is still a lot of uncertainty around the Blues and the search for new owners is still going on but Tuchel will have to make sure the team is focused on the field for this huge Champions league clash.

They were stunned at the weekend by a hungry Brentford side as they crumbled to a 4-1 loss in front of their supporters but we expect to see a much better showing here as they attempt to retain their Champions league title. These two sides met each other last season in the semifinals of this competition and Chelsea ran out deserved 3-1 winners on aggregate.

Real Madrid had some injury issues at that time but will be travelling with almost a fully fit squad this time around that is currently sitting top of La Liga so they will be fully charged up to get some revenge for last season. Home advantage could tilt this towards the Blues and Real Madrid would not mind a draw considering the 2nd leg will be in front of a packed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. It will certainly be an intriguing fixture and an extremely hard one to predict. What I can say for sure is that we are in for a highly competitive 90 minutes of Champions league knockout football between 2 world class sides.

A mouth-watering Champions League clash awaits us and as usual, I have you covered with 2 of my best betting angles included in the preview below:

Team News:

Ben Chilwell is a long-term absentee for Chelsea while Hudson-Odoi is doubtful due to a back problem as well as a sore achilles.

Eden Hazard is out for Real Madrid after undergoing a fibular plate operation while Luka Jovic and Isco will also be absent.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Ziyech, Havertz, Pulisic

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius Junior

- Over 1.5 shots in the match for Kai Havertz

- Over 7.5 shots in the match for Chelsea

Kai Havertz is Chelsea’s main man at the moment and is expected to start up top. He has had 4, 3, 4 & 2 shots in his last 4 premier league starts for Chelsea and had a total of 8 shots in the 2 Champions league home games this season. He had 4 shots against Real Madrid in the home leg last season and I expect him to get at-least 2 efforts on goal this time around.

To bump up the odds a little, I am adding Chelsea to get Over 7.5 shots in the match to the bet builder. They are averaging 15 shots per game in the Champions league this season and had 15 and 11 shots in the 2 legs against Real Madrid last season.

Added to that, Real Madrid have had at-least 8 shots taken agains them in their last 10 away games in a row in all competitions. Combining these 2 selections gives us a solid betbuilder and I am happy to stake 1pt on that as our main bet for this massive Champions League clash.

Mount is Chelsea’s leading assist provider with 9 assists to his name in all competitions. He takes corners and set pieces for the Blues and averages the most key passes per game in the Champions league for Chelsea this season (2 per game).

Casemiro is Real Madrid’s most booked player with 14 yellow cards to his name so far this season. He averages the most tackles (2.8) and most fouls (1.8) per game for Real Madrid this season and loves a cynical foul.

Combining these 2 selections gives us a cracking long-shot double @ 11/1 and I am happy to stake a very small 0.25pt stake on that.