Scout Notes – Champions League – Tuesday

Chelsea and Man United warm up for their Sunday showdown by attempting to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League after just four group matches.

Neither manage to achieve that, but it’s about the only experience they share on an evening of marked contrasts.

Here are the notes from last night’s matches….

Hazard the one bright spark for wasteful Chelsea

Chelsea converted just one of 18 attempts at Bournemouth on Saturday and contrived to lose 3-0 at Roma despite out-shooting their opponents 14-13.

Last night was one to forget for Alvaro Morata.

The 20.6%-owned striker missed two big chances at the Vitality Stadium and was equally culpable in Italy, most notably spurning one golden opportunity from close range when the score was still only 1-0.

Replaced with 15 minutes remaining, the Spaniard’s form has nose-dived since he limped off with a hamstring issue in the Gameweek 7 loss to Man City.

He’d scored six times in the league prior to that but has not found the net since and looks worryingly devoid of confidence.

The Blues have a tough mini-run involving both United and Liverpool over the next three Gameweeks and then it’s smooth sailing all the way through to New Year’s Day.

Injuries and rotation issues involving other big-ticket strikers, together with that long-term schedule, have helped take Morata’s ownership past the million mark.

His form, however, is causing some confusion, with 38,000+ buying him in and just over 25,000 managers selling him on this week.

Those figures still make him the most popular Chelsea acquisition for Gameweek 11, although the man in form is clearly Eden Hazard.

The Belgian midfielder scored the winning goal at Bournemouth – his first in the league this season – and was the Blues’ main threat in Rome. Hazard fired three of his four shots on target and also created four scoring chances for team-mates.

A 10.6 price is clearly too rich for many as he still sits in just 5.2% of Fantasy Premier League squads, but that 11-point haul against the Cherries pointed to a man closing in on the devastating form of last season.

At the back, coach Antonio Conte brought Gary Cahill back into the XI after naming him on the bench at the Vitality on Saturday, with Davide Zappacosta dropping out.

This mirrored the manager’s decision to rest the former Bolton man to the bench in Gameweek 6 prior to Chelsea’s last away trip in Europe.

However, it was Cahill who was the first player to make way last night, replaced on 56 minutes with his side 2-0 down. Fellow defenders Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger played from start to finish.

The weekend clean sheet was Chelsea’s first since Gameweek 6 and they conceded six goals in the two matches with Roma as the defensive stability provided by N’Golo Kante was sorely missed.

The French midfielder was reportedly close to a return from his hamstring issue last night but wasn’t risked.

His presence in front of the backline for Sunday’s visit from United looks essential based on some of the woeful defending on display in the Italian capital, particularly during an abject second half.

Despite last night’s loss, Chelsea still have a four-point advantage over third-placed Atletico Madrid with just two matches remaining in Group C.

Their fifth match of the group stages is away to Qarabag on November 22, four days after a Gameweek 12 trip to West Brom and three days before a Gameweek 13 visit to Liverpool.

United’s spot of bother

Man United’s fourth straight Champions League win involved a 2-0 victory at home to Benfica which virtually assured them a place in next year’s knockout stages.

They still need a point to guarantee that and, in truth, the scoreline flattered Jose Mourinho’s men.

For Romelu Lukaku owners, last night’s spot-kick shenanigans hardly helped matters – the hosts were awarded two penalties with the Belgian on the pitch but he failed to take either of them as his scoring drought was extended to six matches in all competitions.

It took an unfortunate own goal from Mile Svilar to break the deadlock after Nemanja Matic’s shot hit the post and then the back of the Benfica keeper’s head before going in, although Anthony Martial had by then missed a penalty.

A second spot-kick, converted by Daley Blind following a foul on substitute Marcus Rashford, sealed the deal, and raised issues as to who United’s first choice penalty taker actually is.

After Martial’s miss, Blind, Lukaku and Ander Herrera all formed a disorderly queue to take the next one, with the Dutchman finally getting the nod at the behest of Mourinho himself, as he explained post-match.

“The penalty taker for this match was Martial, he took one in the first half and missed. And he was not on the pitch when the second one happened, so then, I had a decision to make. Romelu (Lukaku) wants to take it because he has that personality to want to take the responsibility – so does Herrera. But my decision based on what we did on training in the past couple of days was Blind. The players respect my decision and that’s it – end of story.”

Blind, however, has played precisely one minute in the league since Gameweek 3, Martial is not a regular starter either and Lukaku missed a penalty in the Gameweek 3 win over Leicester City, so it’s a story without a satisfactory end as yet.

At least there’s considerably less doubt surrounding Mourinho’s central defensive choices in the league – it’s Phil Jones plus at least one other.

The Englishman was given the night off against Benfica, with Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling at the heart of a back four.

All three played against Spurs at the weekend and Mourinho could well use the trio again for the trip to Chelsea. Matteo Darmian replaced Ashley Young on the left side of the defence and Academy graduate Scott McTominay was handed a surprise start in place of Herrera to give us further pointers as to the make-up of Sunday’s side.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was also benched last night, although he did come on for Jesse Lingard, at half-time after the latter sustained a minor back problem.

United made relatively heavy work of Benfica, relaxing only when the second goal went in, and David de Gea had to make some fine saves to keep the Portuguese side at bay.

But two wins and no goals conceded since the surprise 2-1 loss at Huddersfield point to a side well equipped to cope with Sunday’s huge match at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho’s men now need just one point from their final two Group A matches to make the knockouts – they get the chance to secure that spot on November 22 away to FC Basel.

That trip to Switzerland comes four days after a Gameweek 12 home clash with Newcastle and three days before a Gameweek 13 visit from Brighton.