Chelsea will be the overwhelming favorites to go through to the next round when they take on Sparta Praha in the second leg of the round of 32 of the Europa League.

The Blues already hold a 1-0 lead, which they earned in the Czech Republic thanks to a strike from Oscar, and the second leg in Stamford Bridge is only expected to go one way - with a victory to the home side.

"We have a lot of confidence and the good thing is that there's competition between the players, that's important, especially if you play twice a week," Benitez said.

"We have more competition now, which is a problem, but it's good for me. It's good because we have so many games and it's important to have the whole squad available.

"I'm quite positive, we've scored a lot of goals over the course of the season and we've been strong in defense.

"We have to win tomorrow (Thursday), progress in the competition and then we have tough games ahead. The tournament is difficult, you can see that by the names left in it."

Chelsea will have Nigerian duo John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses back while David Luiz returns from a suspension, with John Terry expected to start the game.

Benitez, who will have to do without Demba Ba because he is ineligible, confirmed he would give a much-needed rest to Frank Lampard and Branislav Ivanovic.

"It's important to be fit and train properly, and Frank will not be in the squad as we have to manage the group and think about all the other games," Benitez added.

"Obviously Demba Ba is unavailable, but Branislav Ivanovic will also not be involved.

"To play every game because we didn't have the options is a problem, but at least now we will have fresh legs almost for every game. We've played so many games, 25 in three months. We can't train how we would like to, and then you have to carry on and play the next game.

"Still we are improving a lot of things but you have to keep on winning games. As soon as you lose or draw everything changes, but the team is working very hard, the staff are working very hard and I think we are going in the right direction."

To watch Chelsea vs Sparta Praha Live Stream, click here.

Expected lineups: Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Cole; Mikel, Ramires; Moses, Oscar, Hazard; Torres.

Sparta: Vaclik; Zapotocny, Svejdik, Holek, Hybs; Husbauer, Vacha, Matejovsky, Kadlec, Lafata; Krejci.

Prediction: 2-0 to Chelsea