Chelsea v Villarreal betting tips: Tuchel may take cautious approach

Villarreal only had two late pre-season arrivals; Gerard Moreno and Pau Torres were involved at Euro 2020 with Spain and boss Emery is expecting to face a weakened Chelsea side.

Emery (pictured below) told the club’s official website: “Chelsea have internationals with Spain and Italy who didn’t get back until this week.

“Their starting XI will not be the same as the Champions League final. Maybe some of their strongest players won’t start. We will analyse them based on how we are.”

The draw is available at 23/10 and it is Evens for both sides to score.

Chelsea v Villarreal head-to-head

The Blues have history in the competition. They won it in 1998, but lost in 2012, 2013 and 2019. Back in 2012, the club competed for the trophy after winning the Champions League under Roberto Di Matteo but Chelsea lost 4-1 to Atletico Madrid.

A year later, they took Champions League winners Bayern Munich to penalties before Romelu Lukaku missed the decisive spot-kick.

The Blues also lost to Liverpool in the same fashion in Istanbul in 2019, following a 2-2 draw after extra-time.

In terms of Chelsea v Villarreal betting tips, it is 16/5 that Chelsea win but concede in the first meeting between the two teams and 23/20 that over 2.5 goals will be scored in the game.

Villarreal are bidding to become the sixth Spanish side to win the Super Cup and are 10/11 to either win or draw the game in 90 minutes.

Chelsea v Villarreal team news

The Blues have named a 26-man squad for the Super Cup, although the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ross Barkley, Davide Zappacosta, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Trevoh Chalobah are all missing from that list.

Chabolah is likely to go on loan, despite impressing at centre-back during pre-season, with the Blues not short of centre-back options.

Villarreal are likely to have former Tottenham defender Juan Foyth in their line-up, after the Spaniards exercised their option to make a loan deal permanent.

Villarreal have no significant injuries following their clash with Leeds and will likely be at full strength, ahead of their La Liga season opener at home to Granada next Monday.

Chelsea v Villarreal key battles

While there is silverware and a not insignificant 5million euros to the winner on offer, Tuchel will be keen to protect many of his star names ahead of the Premier League season opener, particularly with games against Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City early in their campaign.

Much depends on what side he will put out, but expect to see plenty of minutes for the likes of Mount, Jorginho, James and Chilwell.

Young Germany forward Kai Havertz has established himself as a regular in Tuchel’s line-up and he will want to impress following his two goals in the European Championship. Villarreal will prove a good test for him and the Blues are 8/13 to score the first goal and 15/2 to win 2-1.

View the latest Super Cup odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication