Welcome to Matchday 7 (of 8) in the Champions League “league-phase”. A win here would guarantee Chelsea’s place in the knockout rounds, and keep us in contention for a top-eight finish as well. Anything less and suddenly there would be a lot of pressure on our final game of this phase, away to Napoli.
Not unexpectedly, Liam Rosenior has chosen to rotate the squad a bit, but we should expect any reasonable starting XI we can put out to take care of business tonight. On the bench, we have a couple intriguing
names, including Reggie Walsh and Landon Emenalo, son of former sporting director Michael Emenalo!
David Luiz is on the bench for the visitors, as is former Chelsea prospect Domingos Quina.
Here we go!
Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Jörgensen | Hato, Badiashile, Fofana, Gusto | Caicedo, James (c) | Garnacho, Enzo, Neto | Delap
Substitutes from: Sánchez, Acheampong, Chalobah, Cucurella, Emenalo, Santos, Walsh, George, Estevao, Gittens, Joao Pedro, Guiu
Pafos starting XI:
Gorter | Sema, Luckassen, Pileas, Bruno, Pepe, Sunjic, Jaja, Orsic, Dragomir (c), Anderson
Substitutes from: Petrou, N.Michael, David Luiz, Goldar, Quina, Bassouamina, Dimata, Langa, G.Michael, Fontoura Caldierado
Date / Time: Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 20.00 GMT; 3pm EST; 1:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Erik Lambrechts (on pitch); Carlos del Cerro Grande (VAR)
Forecast: pouring down rain
On TV: TNT Sports 3 (UK); none (USA); Sony TEN 5 (India); SuperSport MáXimo 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: discovery+ (UK); Paramount+ (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!
