Chelsea vs Pafos prediction 21.01.2026 | Champions League
Chelsea
Kick off:
Date:
Pafos
1
1.17
X
8.05
2
28.00
Contents
- Competition: Champions League
- Date: Wednesday, 21st January, 2026
- Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
- Venue: Stamford Bridge (London)
On Wednesday evening, Chelsea will host Cyprian champions Pafos in the seventh round of the Champions League. The Blues are looking for a win to solidify their spot in the knockout round and a potential move into the top eight. At the same time, Pafos needs a win result to enter the knockout spots, considering they are only one point away from it at the moment.
Let's break down the game and find the best possible bet for this Champions League tie.
Chelsea team overview
After winning the Conference League and securing fourth place in the Premier League last season, the Blues hoped they could finally get involved in the title battle in England. While they had some success early in the season, the Blues totally crumbled around Christmas, dropping to sixth place, which eventually led to the coach being fired. Under the new head coach, Liam Rosenior, the Blues started playing a bit better, and there are definitely reasons for optimism. At the moment, they are two points away from fourth place in the PL, and securing a top-four finish is their primary goal for the season.
In the Champions League, the Blues are in a good position as a win here would pretty much solidify their spot in the knockout round.
In the previous game against Brentford, Chelsea won 2:0, but Tosin Adarabioyo suffered an injury and had to leave the field after 58 minutes. He will most likely be out for the Pafos game. Additionally, all the players who missed the previous games should remain sidelined - Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia, Raheem Sterling, Jamie Gittens, Malo Gusto, and Mykhailo Mudryk.
Last matches of Chelsea
-
Chelsea
2 : 0
Brentford
Premier League
-
Chelsea
2 : 3
Arsenal
Carabao Cup
-
Charlton Athletic
1 : 5
Chelsea
FA Cup
-
Fulham
2 : 1
Chelsea
Premier League
-
Manchester City
1 : 1
Chelsea
Premier League
Chelsea lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Robert Sánchez
Defenders
-
24
Reece James
-
29
Wesley Fofana
-
23
Trevoh Chalobah
-
3
Marc Cucurella
Midfielders
-
8
Enzo Fernández
-
10
Cole Palmer
-
25
Moisés Caicedo
Forwards
-
7
Pedro Neto
-
20
João Pedro
-
49
Alejandro Garnacho
Pafos team overview
Pafos had a historic last season, winning their first Cypriot championship. However, considering the amount of money they invested, at least for Cyprian football standards, it wasn't really a surprise. This season, after a good start, they lost two of the past three games and dropped to 2nd place. Now they are five points behind the top spot, although with one game played less.
Recently, on January 9th, the coach Juan Carlos Carcedo left the club to join Spartak Moscow. Albert Celades replaced him, and the new coach has recorded one win and one loss thus far. Unfortunately, in their last game, against Ol. Nicosia, experienced defender David Luiz, suffered an injury and had to leave the field after only 12 minutes. The former Chelsea star will most likely be out for the duel against his former team.
Last matches of Pafos
-
Olympiakos Nicosia
2 : 0
Pafos
1. Division
-
Pafos
2 : 0
Omonia Aradippou
1. Division
-
Pafos
2 : 1
Akritas
Cyprus Cup
-
Apollon
2 : 1
Pafos
1. Division
-
Enosis
0 : 2
Pafos
1. Division
Pafos lineup
Goalkeeper
-
93
Neofytos Michail
Defenders
-
7
Bruno
-
23
Derrick Luckassen
-
5
David Goldar
-
2
Kostas Pileas
Midfielders
-
88
Pêpê
-
30
Vlad Dragomir
-
26
Ivan Sunjic
-
8
Domingos Quina
Forwards
-
10
Landry Dimata
-
17
Mislav Orsic
Prediction
Chelsea had mixed results lately, but they have played good football and deserved much better results against excellent competition. Still, a 2:0 win over Brentford in the last game is definitely a good sign. Also, at home, Chelsea won all three Champions League games with a 9:1 goal difference against fantastic teams - Barcelona, Ajax, and Benfica. Those are all much better teams than Pafos.
Pafos are in bad momentum, losing two out of the last four games in domestic competitions. That is pretty unacceptable considering the rivals they faced. Also, on the road, they have had massive problems, winning only twice in the last eight road games.
Simply, the gap in quality between these two teams is too great, and considering all the above, we believe the Blues would win this Champions League game pretty comfortably.
4 Reasons why Chelsea should win and cover the -1.5 AH spread
- Chelsea won all three home CL games with a 9:1 goal difference
- Pafos lost two out of the last four games
- Pafos won twice in the last eight road games
- Chelsea's total market value is around 1.17 billion euros, compared to Pafos's 30 million euros
Main prediction Chelsea - Pafos
AH1 (-1.5)
Best Odds:
Megapari
1.43
Chelsea vs Pafos standings in Champions League
| League Stage | P | W | D | L |
G - A
|
GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 17 - 1 | +16 | 18 |
| 2 | FC Bayern München | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 - 7 | +11 | 15 |
| 3 | Paris Saint Germain | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 19 - 8 | +11 | 13 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 - 9 | +4 | 13 |
| 5 | Atalanta | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 - 6 | +2 | 13 |
| 6 | Inter | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 - 4 | +8 | 12 |
| 7 | Real Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 - 7 | +6 | 12 |
| 8 | Atlético Madrid | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 - 12 | +3 | 12 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 - 8 | +3 | 12 |
| 10 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 19 - 13 | +6 | 11 |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 - 7 | +6 | 11 |
| 12 | Newcastle United | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 - 6 | +7 | 10 |
| 13 | Chelsea | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 - 8 | +5 | 10 |
| 14 | Sporting CP | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 - 8 | +4 | 10 |
| 15 | FC Barcelona | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 - 11 | +3 | 10 |
| 16 | Olympique Marseille | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 - 8 | +3 | 9 |
| 17 | Juventus | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 - 10 | +2 | 9 |
| 18 | Galatasaray | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 - 8 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 | Monaco | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 - 8 | -1 | 9 |
| 20 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 - 12 | -2 | 9 |
| 21 | PSV | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 15 - 11 | +4 | 8 |
| 22 | Qarabağ | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 - 13 | -3 | 7 |
| 23 | Club Brugge | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 12 - 17 | -5 | 7 |
| 24 | Napoli | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 - 11 | -5 | 7 |
| 25 | FC København | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 - 16 | -6 | 7 |
| 26 | Bodø / Glimt | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 12 - 14 | -2 | 6 |
| 27 | Benfica | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 - 8 | -2 | 6 |
| 28 | Pafos FC | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 - 9 | -5 | 6 |
| 29 | Union Saint-Gilloise | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 - 15 | -8 | 6 |
| 30 | Athletic Club | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 - 9 | -5 | 5 |
| 31 | Olympiacos F.C. | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 - 13 | -7 | 5 |
| 32 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 - 16 | -8 | 4 |
| 33 | Slavia Praha | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 - 11 | -9 | 3 |
| 34 | Ajax | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 - 18 | -13 | 3 |
| 35 | Villarreal | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 - 13 | -9 | 1 |
| 36 | Kairat | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 - 19 | -14 | 1 |