Champions League Group E preview: Chelsea seek change of fortune

Chelsea will be desperate to shrug off a poor couple of weeks when they head to Belgium to face Genk in Champions League Group E action on Tuesday.

Andre Villas-Boas’ side looked to be in cruise control after big wins over Swansea, Bolton and Everton in the English Premier League, but in their past two matches they have been beaten 1-0 by Queens Park Rangers before losing 5-3 at home to Arsenal on Saturday.

The QPR result was overshadowed by a race row involving skipper John Terry and Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand, brother of Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand.

Villas-Boas will be hoping to put all that behind him when he does battle with Genk, who Chelsea slaughtered 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, inspired by a brace from Fernando Torres, in their most recent Champions League outing.

Chelsea are sitting on top of Group E on seven points, one clear of German side Bayer Leverkusen, with Spaniards Valencia on two points and Genk bottom with just one point.

Chelsea can make sure of their place in the knock-out stages by beating Genk if Valencia cannot claim full points against Leverkusen in Spain in the group’s other match, and the Portuguese coach will be imploring his men to go for the jugular.

“The Champions League is a different scenario to the Premiership and this is a good opportunity for us,” Villas-Boas said.

“We will put ourselves in a very good position to qualify if we win this.”

Valencia therefore need to beat Leverkusen at the Estadio Mestalla to keep their hopes of progression alive, and their cause was boosted by news influential Leverkusen midfielder Michael Ballack broke his nose in Bundesliga action on Friday.

Ballack scored in the second minute in Leverkusen’s 1-0 away win over Freiburg – his first Bundesliga goal since 2006 – but was forced off the field after the hour mark after a clash with Jan Rosenthal.

Valencia will head into the match in good form, winning their past two La Liga games to sit in fourth place in the Spanish league, four points behind leaders Real Madrid.