Chelsea fans will be left wondering what more Callum Hudson-Odoi has to do in order to earn a regular starting spot after impressing once again in the Europa League.
The tricky English youngster came off the bench to score against Dynamo Kiev on Thursday night in a 3-0 win for the Blues. Thursday night’s Europa League meeting was Chelsea’s eighth game in 25 days.
After starting in the second leg of the previous round against Swedish outfit Malmo, it came as a surprise to supporters to see the promising youngster left on the bench, with Maurizio Sarri clearly taking the competition very seriously.
Hudson-Odoi scored the third goal of the game to round off an impressive performance from the London outfit. Pedro and Willian were also on hand to score earlier in the game, with Kiev unable to provide stiff enough competition to trouble the Premier League side.
Chelsea are the favourites to win the Europa League this season and using a free betting calculator you can work out how much you’ll be able to bank should Sarri’s men go on and lift the trophy.
Sarri, a manager who has never won a major competition, will be eager to take Chelsea all the way in the Europa League, Lifting the trophy will also reward the Blues with Champions League qualification for next season.
With the top-four race heating up, the Europa League could be Chelsea’s best avenue to secure Champions League football, something that will be crucial if the club want to attract the best players over the summer.
Chelsea have won the competition before and know what it takes to lift a European trophy when the going gets tough. Sarri will be aiming to channel that experience in his efforts to land the first major trophy of his managerial career.
The second leg should be a formality for Chelsea but Sarri will want to avoid any chance of a major upset, and as such, starting Hudson-Odoi would make a lot of sense.
The youngster is desperate to get more minutes under his belt and his presence could be enough to get Chelsea an away goal which will end the tie as a contest. It should be over already but an away goal will kill any chance of a major come-from-behind win for the home team.
