Good evening and welcome to Eurosport's LIVE text commentary of Chelsea's Europa League Group L clash at BATE Borisov. Having made a perfect start to their campaign, the Blues can confirm their spot in the last 32 of the competition with a victory in Belarus.

Much better control of possession from Chelsea now, but BATE are holding their defensive shape well, and the Belarus champions are proving stubborn opponents to play through.

Hazard has yet to work his magic, but he's played through behind the BATE defence on the left. A little give-and-go with Loftus Cheek is nice, but then the Belgian's cross is cleared.

Jorginho concedes the ball needlessly in midfield, and Baga - who struck the post a while ago - is allowed to charge down the flank before delivering a cross into the box. Christensen is there to clear.

Chelsea go long as Christensen launches it forward to Giroud, who is still waiting for his first goal for Chelsea since May. He controls it on his chest and strikes a volley at goal, it takes a deflection off a defender, winning the visitors a corner.

The banners here in Belarus are fascinating!

CHANCE! Chelsea are under the cosh here in Belarus! A corner is delivered, and the Blues don't deal with it, Dragun is left unmarked at the near post and forces Kepa into a diving save.

OFF THE POST! No one closes down Baga and the BATE midfielder accepts the invitation to shoot from 25 yards. And what an effort it is, too. He catches it really sweetly, the ball looks destined for the far corner, Kepa is beaten, but it cannons agonisingly off the woodwork.

This is the rather interesting banner displayed behind the Chelsea goal.

Chelsea are beginning to get to grips with the game. The visitors are knocking the ball around comfortably as they enjoy a long spell of possession.

Zappacosta gets around his marker to arch a cross into the heart of the home side's defence but there are few blue shirts inside the box and Filipenko intervenes with a clearing header.

And it's all rather scrappy on the field, too. Barkley gets a sight of goal and rifles a shot, Giroud tries and fails to get out of the way, the ball striking his backside and diverting it out of play.

Some of the football Chelsea have played under Sarri this season has been thrilling - colourful, even. There is nothing bright about the conditions in Belarus, it's misty, dull and barely above 0 degrees.

BATE asking some questions of the Blues defence here early on. The ball is spread wide to Signevich who has space to get a cross in, Christensen fails to clear convincingly, and Stasevich, the club captain, fires wide with an overhead kick.

And we are underway in Belarus where it is absolutely freezing!

A reminder of the teams...

Chelsea: Kepa, Zappacosta, Cahill, Christensen, Emerson, Barkley, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Pedro, Giroud, Hazard. Subs: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Ampadu, Kovacic, Kante, Hudson-Odoi, Willian.

BATE: Scherbitski, Rios, Volkov, Filipenko, Filipovic, Hleb, Dragun, Baga, Skavysh, Signevich, Stasevich. Subs: Chichkan, Yablonski, Berezkin, Ivanic, Tuominen, Polyakov, Moukam.

Chelsea can win the pool this evening, but only with a win and as long as Vidi and PAOK draw in the other Group L game.

Standing in their way are Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics, as they are otherwise known.

Kick-off is NEXT!

MATCH STAT: Chelsea have won six consecutive Europa League games, since a 2-3 defeat at Rubin Kazan in April 2013. Who would bet against the Blues winning the competition?

Kovacic and Ampadu are also likely candidates to play replace Hazard, whenever that time comes in the game.

While Chelsea continued their unbeaten start to the Premier League with a comfortable victory over Palace on Sunday, BATE were busy clinching the Belarus league title with a 1-0 victory over Neman Grodno, leaving them a mighty 14 points clear at the top of the league with three games to play.

Loftus-Cheek netted a hat-trick as Chelsea won the reverse fixture 3-1 a fortnight ago, and his reward for his recent impressive form is a recall to the England squad.