Champions League matches in Group G

Factbox on Wednesday's matches in Group G of the Champions League:

CHELSEA v LAZIO

Despite their raft of purchases during the summer, Chelsea are experiencing something of an injury crisis in defence with John Terry (hamstring), Marcel Desailly (hip), William Gallas (shin) and Celestine Babayaro (hamstring) all missing the 2-1 premier league defeat at Arsenal on Saturday.

Terry and Gallas are hopeful of being fit to face the Italians with Dutchman Mario Melchiot on standby to line up alongside young German Robert Huth in the centre of defence, probably flanked by another youngster in Glen Johnson and the more experienced figure of Wayne Bridge.

After a 2-0 defeat to Besiktas in their first home match in Group G, Chelsea cannot afford to lose another and still retain hopes of progress to the knock-out stages.

A foot injury to Brazilian winger Cesar is the main worry for Lazio coach Roberto Mancini.

In Cesar's absence, Dejan Stankovic is expected to move out wide on the left, making room for Giuliano Giannichedda in the centre of midfield.

Up front Italian international striker Bernardo Corradi should start ahead of Simone Inzaghi.

Probable teams:

Chelsea: 23-Carlo Cudicini, 2-Glen Johnson, 26-John Terry, 29-Robert Huth, 18-Wayne Bridge, 30-Jesper Gronkjaer, 4-Claude Makelele, 20-Juan Sebastian Veron, 11-Damien Duff, 21-Hernan Crespo, 7-Adrian Mutu.

Lazio: 1-Angelo Peruzzi, 22-Massimo Oddo, 31-Jaap Stam, 11-Sinisa Mihajlovic, 19-Giuseppe Favalli, 14-Stefano Fiore, 16-Giuliano Giannichedda, 4-Demetrio Albertini, 10-Dejan Stankovic, 7-Claudio Lopez, 9-Bernardo Corradi.

Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway).

SPARTA PRAGUE v BESIKTAS

Sparta's experienced former international Jiri Nemec comes back after a knee injury to strengthen the midfield.

Another defensive midfielder, Pavel Pergl is expected to play as a right wing-back with first choice Martin Petras still not fully recovered from a foot injury. Pergl was tested in a 1-0 away victory against local rivals Viktoria Zizkov on Sunday.

Besiktas coach Mircea Lucescu is facing difficulties in attack and Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan is likely to be given a place in the starting line-up.

Striker Ilhan Mansiz is suspended, while playmaker Sergen Yalcin has been suffering from an injury. Newspapers said forward Ahmet Dursun was also finding it difficult to recover his form after injury.

Midfielder Tumer Metin was hit by an ankle injury in Besiktas's last league game against Diyarbakir and his condition is only likely to become clear on match day.

Probable teams:

Sparta: 29-Jaromir Blazek, 4-Pavel Pergl, 8-Tomas Huebschman, 17-Petr Johana, 3-Vladimir Labant, 14-Libor Sionko, 15-Radoslav Kovac, 7-Lukas Zelenka, 20-Jiri Nemec, 8-Karel Poborsky, 9-Marek Kincl.

Besiktas: 1-Oscar Cordoba, 30-Zago, 5-Ronaldo Guiaro, 2-Emre Asik, 3-Tayfur Havutcu, 71-Okan Koc, 20-Federico Giunti, 19-Ibrahim Uzulmez, 67-Tumer Metin, 77-Ahmed Hassan, 9-Daniel Pancu.

Referee: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg).