Chelsea return to Champions League action on Tuesday evening when they face Dynamo Kiev at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium.
The Blues can overhaul their hosts in Group G with a win, while defeat could leave them facing an early exit from this season's competition.
Dinamo Kiev
© Getty Images
Kiev have made a promising start to their Champions League campaign, going unbeaten in their opening two fixtures.
Sergei Rebrov's side began by holding Portuguese giants Porto to a 2-2 draw in Kiev three weeks ago.
They fell behind twice to goals from Vincent Aboubakar, but Oleg Gusev and an 89th-minute strike from Vitaliy Buyalskyi ensured that they claimed a share of the spoils.
Then, they cruised to a 2-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv to move into the top two places in the group.
Dynamo lost for the first time in the league this season on Friday, when they were thrashed 3-0 at home by rivals Shakhtar Donetsk. As a result, Shakhtar have overtaken them at the top of the Ukranian Premier League on goal difference.
The result also brought to an end Dynamo's 38-match unbeaten run in the league, so they will be looking to maintain their good form so far in Europe's elite club competition.
Recent form: WWWWL
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWL
Chelsea
© Getty Images
Chelsea have been far from their best this season in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho's men returned to winning ways in the league with a 2-0 success over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Diego Costa making a goalscoring return to the side.
Chelsea will undoubtedly be buoyed by the win, as it lifted them five places to 11th in the standings, and they will be aiming to keep up the momentum ahead of a trip to West Ham United next weekend.
Prior to the Villa game, the Blues had made their worst start to a league season since the 1978-79 campaign, when they finished bottom of Division One. While relegation is unlikely for the West Londoners this time around, the chances of retaining their Premier League crown have been dented, and they are facing an uphill battle to get out of their Champions League group.
They began on matchday one with a routine 4-0 victory over Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge, but defeat to Mourinho's old club Porto in their next outing has left them with some work to do.
Chelsea find themselves in third spot - one point behind Dynamo in Group G - after that loss and will therefore need a win to move back into a qualification spot for the knockout stages.
Recent form: WLLWDL
Recent form (all competitions): WWDLLW
Team News
© Getty Images
Mourinho will be without injured pair Thibaut Courtois and Branislav Ivanovic for the trip to Ukraine.
Therefore, Cesar Azpilicueta is expected to remain at right-back while Abdul Baba Rahman should start at left-back. In midfield, Ruben Loftus-Cheek could be handed his second start in a week after featuring against Villa, while Eden Hazard could be brought back in after he was named on the bench on Saturday.
Dynamo coach Rebrov could be without key midfielder Serhiy Rybalka, who is out of action with a small tear of the muscle, but there is a chance that he could be fit in time to face Chelsea.
Dynamo Kiev possible starting lineup:
Shovkovskiy; Silva, Dragovic, Khacheridi, Antunes; Rybalka, Veloso, Garmash; Gusev, Yarmolenko, Kravets
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Begovic; Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Rahman; Loftus-Cheek, Fabregas; Hazard, Willian, Pedro; Costa
Head To Head
The teams have never met previously in any format.
We say: Dynamo Kiev 1-3 Chelsea
Dynamo proved earlier in the competition that they can find results against the big sides on home soil when they drew with Porto, but in truth Chelsea should have too much for them. Needing a win to boost their chances of making it to the next round, expect Mourinho to have his side fired up for this one.
Steven Toplis
