Chelsea and Malmo meet again on Thursday night, this time in England at Stamford Bridge for what will be the second leg of their Europa League tie. The Blues come here with a small 2-1 lead from the first game and they will be looking to build on that early in this one and put the game to bed.

While Malmo will know they are up against it here, they can take heart from the late goal they scored to get back into the game, without that goal Chelsea would have been two up and this tie would almost have been over before they boarded the plane.

If Malmo want another positive then it is the recent form of Chelsea, which has been poor to say the least. The Blues have offered little resistance to those they have faced who are better than them, with losses against Arsenal, Bournemouth, Manchester City and Manchester United in recent weeks.

That has piled the pressure on Maurizio Sarri, who has come under scrutiny from both the media and the fans of the club. There has been talks about his job being at risk, and it is going to be interesting to see how things unfold over the coming weeks. However, the good news for him is that this game gives him the chance to get a win on the board, and settle things down at the club. In terms of genuine quality, Chelsea have it in abundance compared to Malmo, and even though they have troubles within the club, this should still be a comfortable night for The Blues.

Problems Behind the Scenes at Chelsea?

There is clearly something going off at Chelsea right now, and that is impacting on the team and how they are playing. The most obvious area to look into would be whether there is something going off behind the scenes, and whether that is affecting the relationship between the players and manager at the club. When Sarri came into the club things seemed well, and his transition was seamless, although now there is a completely different look about the team.

When a new manager comes into any club, especially one coming in to a club in a new country to them, there is always a settling in period. Sarri didn’t seem to have that, he seemed to get off on the front foot and that was despite arriving while many of his players were playing in the World Cup. With this in mind, it was expected Sarri would start poorly, players that had played for a long way in the World Cup were not back with the club until just a week before the season began.

Had he started poorly then because of this, Sarri would more than likely have been given time to turn things around, and the fans and board would have still got behind him, understanding the situation he was in. What has happened at the club is actually the opposite of that, when he was expected to start slowly he was brilliant, and led Chelsea to a great start, and now when he is expected to be doing well as he has settled in, the club are playing their worst football of the season.

The other potential reason for Chelsea playing poorly at the moment is that they have simply been worked out by the rest of the league. When Sarri came into the club during last summer he brought his own style of play and he installed that on his new players. They started well and adapted to it better than some expected them to, but is it just a case that they have now been worked out?

Conceding goals has been a big problem for them over the past few weeks, and defensively they do not look as comfortable as we have seen from them in the past. This is obviously a very important issue for them to try and solve, and if they have been found out then they may have to work out another way to play.

Whatever it is that is causing the problems right now at Chelsea, unless Maurizio Sarri finds a way to solve it, his job at the club is at risk. He has to either turn things around by looking at his playing style or solve the issues amongst the squad in terms of harmony. Either way, this is not pretty right now, the pressure is on and a win over Malmo will not reduce that, he needs much more.

Chelsea vs Malmo Betting Tips

This should be a comfortable night for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, although they cannot 100% be trusted as they have been playing poorly recently. The majority of those poor performances have been away from home though, and that is a positive here.

There is also a lot less pressure on them in this game, as pretty much everyone expects this to be a comfortable night that results in qualification to the next round. What is needed here is a performance that will lift people. Seeing Chelsea win this game comfortably would not stop the fans from being critical of Sarri, but it would put a smile back on their faces and make them feel a little bit better about the direction that their football club is heading in.

I am confident that Chelsea can use their superior quality to win this one, and win it comfortably. After a loss on Monday night in the FA Cup, they will want to put things right here before their Carabao Cup final on Sunday against Manchester City, and a big win would do that.

I’m backing Chelsea to cover the handicap line here, and backing Chelsea -1, which is available at 1.72. They have the quality to see off Malmo with ease, and a chance here to put a smile back on the faces of their fans, something they will want to do.

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