Andre Villas-Boas is placing much importance on Wednesday evening's game against Genk, declaring that a win against the Belgian champions would remove much of the 'unpredictability' he sees at this stage of the Group E games.
There is only a three-point gap between Chelsea at the top and Genk at the bottom after two games played and going into the first of two matches in two weeks against the same opponents, the Chelsea manager's message to his players is clear.
'One win puts Genk back in the battle for qualification and that is what we want to avoid,' Villas-Boas says.
'Tomorrow will be very important because we are at home. The opportunity is there but it is never easy.
'We had a draw in Valencia but we were so close to winning and now the group has become tight and anything can still happen. It is this unpredictable situation that we want to cut off by winning this first game. Also the Leverkusen-Valencia games will have something to say.'
There are still a few tickets available for the game at Stamford Bridge to see what will be a strong Chelsea side take on the visitors.
Only Ramires, Hilario and long-term casualty Michael Essien are unavailable. Ramires suffered a knee injury when scoring against Everton on Saturday and is rated as 50-50 to return to the squad for the visit to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday. Fernando Torres returns to the squad as his current suspension only applies to domestic competitions.
Villas-Boas is confident that the strength of his squad allows him to rotate his selection over the next two games but considers a four-game gap sufficient to reduce the pressure to do so.
Genk, currently ninth in the Belgian League, arrive in London with a longer injury list. There are doubts over the participation of four players who started both group games so far and another who played the qualification matches is ruled out until April.
'I was made aware by my scouts involved in studying Genk that they are going through a period of a tremendous amount of injuries, which is unfortunate for them,' says the Chelsea manager.
'They even had injury problems out of the return from the national teams, and they are going through a period of a lot of change in all kinds of aspects. First getting into the Champions League group stage for the first time in a while which is something very massive for the club, then the departure of [coach] Frank Vercauteren and a couple of big talents at the beginning of the season, and then the time they are adapting to Mario Been and his methods.
'It has made things difficult for Genk in the beginning of the season but this game is the ideal situation to find a different motivational stimulation for your team. When this is the case people can transcend themselves and create you problems so we have maximum respect for Genk.
'We know people will play out of position against us [due to injuries] but they will always be able to put a strong team out that can create us difficulties. We have to be aware and very concentrated in the 90 minutes.'
One player fit to play is Belgian international midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.
'He is an interesting player,' says Villas-Boas. 'He can play in various positions, from wide left in a 4-4-2 or through the middle as a central midfielder.
'He is exceptionally gifted technically and reminds me of past technical Belgian players like Enzo Scifo, but he still has progression to be made and his next step, if he is thinking about moving, will be the most difficult one.
'We have not scouted just him, we have scouted many different players before so it doesn't mean that all the players we scout will eventually join us. We have to make the right decisions because it is always difficult to get into the Chelsea team.
'But he [De Bruyne] is an exceptional talent and hopefully he can continue to triumph in Genk and the Belgian national team.'
