Chelsea will look to continue their momentum and take a stranglehold of their group when they visit Ukrainian heavyweights Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
The Blues, who picked up an impressive win against Tottenham in the weekend, are looking as good as any team in Europe at the moment, with Roberto Di Matteo's men flying high in the English Premier League - four points clear of the rest of the chasing pack after eight games. Four points, however, is exactly how much Chelsea have after two matches in their Champions League Group E - level on points with their opponents Tuesday.
The defending champions have still not been entirely convincing in Europe this season - throwing away a two-goal lead against Juventus, who have two points from two games, and then struggling to a win against Nordsjaelland.
What Roberto Di Matteo will be hoping for is the same sort of form shown by his team in the Premier League off late, rubbing off in the Champions League as well.
"I'm just happy to working with my players," Di Matteo said. "I have this club in my heart. I think that these players deserve all the credit after an extremely difficult season last time out.
"Now we have integrated new players in our system. I'm here to help, and to do my job as well as I can, and I hope that will continue for a long time."
Those new faces have integrated pretty well into a system that allows them to express themselves, while also keeping the defensive stolidity that we have come to expect from Chelsea in the last few years. The likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata have been revelling in playmaking roles, playing just behind the lone striker Fernando Torres, who apart from scoring prolifically, has had quite a decent season so far.
Di Matteo said he will most probably keep the same team that won 4-2 at Spurs, meaning Frank Lampard will again have to settle for a place on the bench. John Terry, who is serving a four-match suspension in domestic competitions, however, might get the nod over Gary Cahill, despite the defender's goalscoring exploits against Spurs.
Shakhtar, under Mircea Lucescu, are a dangerous team capable of taking down any side in the world, and they hold an impressive record having won three of their last four home games against English teams. The Ukrainians also have a full squad to choose from with no major injury headaches for the manager.
"I remember Mircea Lucescu's work in Italy very well," Di Matteo said. "All his teams stuck to the same philosophy -- they always try to play possession football. You can see how Shakhtar pass the ball. You can see the structure of the team.
"They are very good tactically and they have a lot of quick players. Lucescu is an excellent coach with huge experience, and he has done very well at Shakhtar."
The likes of Willian - once coveted by Chelsea - Douglas Costa and Dario Srna are extremely dangerous on their day, and Di Matteo will no doubt be wary of his opponent's talents, who will go out for an outright win.
"Our main goal is to get three points," Lucescu said. "For the first time since I came to Shakhtar, we are playing against the European champions. This obviously provides a perfect motivation for the players, as it's a big honor for our city and our club.
"I don't want to talk a lot about their game on Saturday, because I think that at the moment we are stronger than Tottenham. Chelsea have two groups of players. In defense they have tall and physically strong footballers, but in midfield and attack they have very fast and technically gifted players, such as Ramires, Oscar, Hazard, Mata and, of course, Fernando Torres. Maybe Chelsea need some time to get into the match, but they can certainly play quickly and cleverly.
"Last season they played a different brand of football as they were concentrated on defense, hoping for set pieces and some Didier Drogba magic. However, today their style has changed, as they have bought some new players such as Oscar and Hazard. We expect that the visitors will attack a lot.
"I hope that our team will show tactical nous and an ability to adapt to Chelsea's game as well as they did in Turin against Juve."
Di Matteo will be hoping for the exact opposite.
Expected lineups: Shakhtar: Srna; Kobin, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk; Teixeira, Stepanenko; Costa, Mkhitaryan, Willian; Adriano.
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Cole; Mikel, Ramires; Mata, Oscar, Hazard; Torres.
Prediction: 1-1
