Overview
Chelsea's "first time" milestones have not stopped under the reign of new head coach Liam Rosenior, who is about to make his Champions League debut with The Blues, just a few weeks after consecutive debuts at the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Premier League.
Before unexpectedly leaving the hot seat, Enzo Maresca helped Chelsea win three matches, one draw and two defeats in six group stage matches. The most recent defeat was a narrow 1-2 defeat away from home to Atalanta in the sixth match.
After dropping points against Bayern Munich and Qarabag this season, Chelsea is currently ranked 13th in the Champions League table, outside the top 8 leading teams. However, the situation is still extremely tight as they are only 3 points behind third-placed Paris Saint-Germain.
Notably, all of Chelsea's unsatisfactory results in Europe this season came away from home. Conversely, The Blues have successively defeated Barcelona, Ajax and Benfica at Stamford Bridge, and are currently on a 17-match unbeaten streak at home in the European Cup group stage.
The London team also maintained an impressive scoring streak with 21 consecutive scoring matches in European leagues. They just won convincingly 2-0 against their city rival Brentford in the Premier League last weekend. This is also The Blues' second victory after 8 matches in all competitions.
Only 4 points behind Chelsea in the Champions League standings, Pafos did not play the role of underdog in their first appearance at the most prestigious playground in Europe.
They have the same number of defeats as The Blues, but caused a stir when they won points against Villarreal, Monaco, Olympiacos and Kairat in the 2025-2026 season. In particular, the 1-0 victory over Villarreal in November last year and the remaining 3 draws helped them maintain hope of going deep.
Coach Albert Celades's team is currently ranked 26th in the overall standings, only one point behind Copenhagen - the last position qualified for the play-off round.
However, stability is still a difficult problem for Pafos. Last weekend, they unexpectedly lost to Olympiakos Nicosia 0-2 in the domestic league, thereby 5 points behind the leading team Omonia Nicosia despite having one match left.
Away form continues to be a major concern as Pafos has not scored any goals away from home in the Champions League. The away trip to Stamford Bridge is also the first time they have faced an English club in the European arena.
Personnel situation
Chelsea won against Brentford, but had to trade it off with a slight loss of force when center-back Tosin Adarabioyo was forced to leave the field right before the 60th minute due to a hamstring strain. However, Rosenior said he hoped this was just a defensive decision.
The Blues are also waiting for an assessment of the condition of Estevao Willian and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (both ill). Meanwhile, Mykhaylo Mudryk (suspended for doping), Romeo Lavia (knee injury) and Levi Colwill (knee injury) will certainly not be present.
In the opposite direction, Pafos is also facing serious personnel problems. Former Chelsea center-back - David Luiz - is at risk of missing the reunion with his old team when he has to leave the field after only 12 minutes in the defeat last weekend due to injury.
The situation became even worse when David Goldar, who replaced Luiz, also could not play fully due to fitness issues. Striker Joao Correira fell into a similar situation, causing Albert Celades to face three new injuries right before his trip to the stadium of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup champion.
Expected lineup:
Sanchez, Acheampong, Fofana, Badiashile, Hato, Fernandez, Santos, George, Pedro, Garnacho, Delap.
Pafos FC: Michail, Bruno, Luckassen, Langa, Pileas, Pepe, Sunjic, Quina, Dragomic, Silva, Orsic.
The match between Chelsea and Pafos FC takes place at 3:00 AM on January 22 (Vietnam time).
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