Valencia vs Chelsea preview: The winner will go through to UCL knockout stages

Team news, stats and prediction as Chelsea travel to Valencia in the Champions League.

Team news

Callum Hudson-Odoi will miss Chelsea's Champions League clash at Valencia on Wednesday (5.55pm kick-off).

Hudson-Odoi picked up a minor hamstring injury on England duty, and Chelsea boss Frank Lampard hopes he will be ready to feature in Saturday's Premier League battle against West Ham.

Antonio Rudiger remains sidelined but is closing in on a return from a long-term pelvic problem, while Ross Barkley did not travel to Spain.

Valencia may opt for Kevin Gameiro up front, but Denis Cheryshev's return from injury may have come too late for this clash.

State of play

The winner of this game will go through to the knockout stages, leaving the loser to battle it out with Ajax for second spot.

A draw would make for a fascinating final round of matches.

Opta stats

Valencia have won just one of their seven UEFA Champions League matches against Chelsea (W1 D3 L3), winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on MD1 of this season's competition.

In all European competition, Valencia have faced nine English teams in home matches, registering a win over seven of them (Arsenal, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Nottingham Forest and Stoke City), failing against only two opponents - Chelsea (three games) and West Bromwich Albion (one game).

Chelsea have lost just one of their last 11 away UEFA Champions League matches in Spain (W3 D7 L1), though it came in their most recent visit in March 2018, a 3-0 reverse at Barcelona in the Last 16.

Chelsea are looking to record three consecutive away UEFA Champions League victories for the first time since winning five in a row during the 2003-04 campaign.

Valencia are one of five teams yet to score in the first half of a UEFA Champions League game this season, with all six of their goals coming in the second half.