A stunning reverse at home against Basel in the Champions League was quickly smoothed over courtesy three points at Steaua Bucharest. The next step for Chelsea, towards their recover from an early blip, will be topping the current Group E leaders Schalke in Germany - not an easy proposition, as Arsenal will readily attest to.
Schalke will be confident of picking up a positive result against another English club, after taking four points from Arsenal in the group stages last season.
The German side have picked up six points from two matches so far this year, with wins over Steaua Bucharest and FC Basel. A win against Chelsea on Tuesday night, and they will have as good as sealed their place in the last-16.
"Both Arsenal and Chelsea are top English sides with enormous quality," Schalke manager Jens Keller said. "We have taken a lot of confidence from recent results and performances in the Champions League over the past years. With the fans behind us, we want to give our best.
"I have always said I want to win every game. However, a draw would be OK -- we could certainly live with that."
Chelsea might not be able to live with a draw, though, having picked up just three points from two matches. The two sides meet yet again at Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks later and Jose Mourinho will be keen to have a psychological upperhand over Schalke for that particular game, along with being perched on top of the table.
"It's not time to start worrying about the number of points we have just yet," Mourinho said. "Tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll play our strongest opponents in the group and it won't be easy."
Mourinho, as he has all season, again stressed on the evolving nature of the team, while trying to tone down the expectations. "The profile of the team is different to when I was here before," he added. "The older players are at the best stage of their careers. At the same time, we have a lot of youngsters in the creative areas of the pitch. We used to be physically very strong but things are different now. We have to play a different kind of football with a different philosophy. I am building a new side and it's very enjoyable."
Team News: Kevin-Prince Boateng, Jermaine Jones and Timo Hildebrand are expected to return for Schalke, but Marco Hoger misses out, with Keller saying he was "terribly disappointed" by the loss of the midfielder. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is a long-term injury victim.
Fernando Torres returned for Chelsea at the weekend, but Andre Schurrle has not made the trip to his native Germany, along with left-back Ashley Cole.
Key men: Schalke: Julian Draxler has been heavily linked with a move to the English Premier League, including Chelsea, and the German playmaker will be keen to show just why he is so highly-rated in Europe.
Chelsea: Oscar has been in good form this season, and with the full faith of Mourinho on his back, the Brazilian will want to sparkle in the Champions League.
Where to watch
The game is scheduled for a 12.15 a.m. IST start on Wednesday morning with live telecast on Ten HD.
Expected lineups: Schalke: Hildebrand; Uchida, Howedes, Santana, Aogo; Jones, Neustadter; Clemens, Meyer, Draxler; Szalai.
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Bertrand; Ramires, Lampard; Mata, Oscar, Hazard; Eto'o.
Prediction: 2-1 to Chelsea
