Chelsea vs Spartak Moscow preview - Duo missing for Blues

Posted Wednesday, November 03, 2010 by PA

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti will be without two of his star names for Tuesday`s night's Champions League Group F clash with Spartak Moscow at Stamford Bridge.

An ankle injury has robbed Ancelotti of France international Florent Malouda while midfielder Frank Lampard remains sidelined with a groin injury.

Yossi Benayoun and Jose Bosingwa are also notable absentees for the hosts.

Victory over Valery Karpin's side would give Chelsea the double over the Russian side and increase their lead at the top of the group to six points.

A win would also see them qualify for the knockout stage and with games against Marseille (away) and MSK Zilina (home) to come, they would be firm favourites to finish top.

"Malouda has an ankle problem," confirmed Ancelotti. "He twisted it in the last game and had a scan yesterday. He will have another one today but we don't think it's a big problem.

"It was a little twist. I hope he will be ready for the game at Liverpool.

"Lampard and Benayoun will be out, and Bosingwa has not felt well and did not train, so he's not available.

"We have a lot of games coming up and I don't want to take a risk. We have important games against Liverpool and Fulham and we want to play them with the players in good condition."

But Ancelotti is compensated by the return of Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba. He was suspended for the opening two games in the Champions League and missed the win over Spartak in Moscow through a virus.

"He's involved and wants to play," added Ancelotti. "He wants to give his support for the team. He's been out for these games and the team played well and won, but we have more possibilities to win when Drogba is in the team.

"When you have an opportunity to close the game you have to do it. We have a chance to get to the top of the table and play the last group games without pressure.

"Spartak played very well in the last game, above all in the second half. We want to avoid those kind of difficulties.

"We had a problem in the second half and played too defensively. We want to play a different game."

The absent Malouda warned his team-mates that Spartak will come to London gunning for a result.

"I was really impressed by the quality of Spartak," said Malouda. "They will come to get a result because it's so important for them, for second place."

Thigh injuries will deprive Spartak of striker Ari and defender Martin Stranzl, while youngster Sergei Parshivlyuk is also set to miss out. Brazilian midfielder Alex could feature after a knock.

Spartak's 2-0 loss to Chelsea last time out ended their winning start to the group stage. They sit second behind the Blues on six points in Group F, and Karpin insists he has learned the lessons of that defeat a fortnight ago.

"We were too scared of our opponents," he said. "We gave them too much respect."