Chelsea v FC Basel – Europa League Semi-Final Match Preview and Betting Tip

Betting Tips | Article posted on April 29th, 2025

The reign of Rafael Benitez at Chelsea has been probably the most reviled one in Premier League history. Yet Blues supporters might grudgingly reflect that the Spaniard has in fact done all that could possibly have been asked of him at the club. Chelsea’s league form has been stabilised, and they look highly likely to finish third in the Premier League, granting them automatic entry to next season’s Champions League group stages. They had a decent FA Cup run, losing only narrowly to a very strong Manchester City team in the semi-finals. Thirdly, Benitez won the only Champions League tie took charge for by six goals to one.

And, finally, Chelsea look in with an increasingly good chance of winning the Europa League, with their semi-final tie with FC Basel very much under their control, having won in Switzerland just last week. It was a narrow and hard fought victory, but the Blues were certainly the better side, and could quite legitimately claim that the penalty awarded against them was a pretty soft one, and that Basel threatened little aside from this erroneous goal.

Thus, Chelsea go into this second-leg strong favourites to progress, and are in fact odds on favourites to win the entire competition. Should Benitez achieve a top four finish and a European trophy at Stamford Bridge, there is no doubt his reputation will have been significantly enhanced, particularly in the way that he has dealt with an unfavourable reception from supporters throughout his tenure of the club. Although the Europa League is looked upon as very much the poor relation of the two major European trophies, it is worth remembering that both Manchester clubs fared rather poorly when they were thrust into the competition last season.

Despite the importance of this fixture, Benitez is likely to rest as many key players as he feels he can get away with ahead of the weekend trip to Old Trafford. Thus, we may see the likes of Bertrand, Moses and even Benayoun in the Chelsea starting line-up, with Benitez holding the likes of Mata and Hazard back on the bench.

Chelsea (possible 4-2-3-1)

Cech

Azpilicueta • Ivanovic • Luiz • Bertrand

Ramires • Lampard

Moses • Oscar • Benayoun

Torres

FC Basel (possible 4-2-3-1)

Sommer

Steinhofer • Voser • Dragovic • Schar

Salah • Cabral • F. Frei • Stocker

Strellar • A Frei

Betting Prediction

Whatever team Chelsea field for this match, I fancy them to win quite easily. They looked a stronger side that Basel in the first-leg, and comfortably won on their home turf against Swansea at the weekend. Thus, I am tipping the home side to win this game by three goals to one, I also recommend the both teams to score and over 2.5 goals bets.

Final Scoreline Prediction:Chelsea 3 – 1 FC Basel

Other Recommended Bets: Over 2.5 Goals, Both Teams to Score.

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)