Chelsea draw a blank

The Blues had already qualified for the Champions League knockout stages as Group B winners, regardless of the result at Stamford Bridge, and for long spells they looked like a team with nothing to play for.

Boss Avram Grant had acknowledged the group finale against Valencia was little more than a distraction with the Arsenal clash looming and his side were reading from the same script.

Aside from a bright opening and a productive final half hour that coincided with Joe Cole's arrival from the bench, they looked in second gear.

For their part Valencia seemed equally disinterested with the feint hope of securing a place in the UEFA Cup providing little inspiration. The Spanish club started with reported Chelsea target David Villa and Fernando Morientes up front but the celebrated duo rarely threatened.

Grant was expected to rest key players such as Frank Lampard and John Terry but only made six changes, among them recalling Petr Cech who had recovered a calf injury. Peru striker Claudio Pizarro started and probably played his way out of contention for a place against Arsenal after proving the most wasteful of Chelsea's players.

Salomon Kalou and Cole both struck the woodwork in a dominant last 30 minutes, but sloppy finishing and the heroics of Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares also contributed to the stalemate.

After his headline act against Sunderland, normal service resumed for Andriy Shevchenko who produced an ineffective display until his half-time substitution.

Shevchenko starred in Saturday's victory over Roy Keane's side but he was off the pace against the Spanish side, squandering Chelsea's best chance in the opening exchanges.

Shaun Wright-Phillips and Frank Lampard had combined brilliantly to set him up but his stabbed shot did not have sufficient power to trouble Canizares.