Antonio Rudiger Chelsea
Antonio Rudiger Chelsea

Chelsea suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of West Ham United in the Premier League during the weekend but they will be looking to get back to winning ways in midweek.

Next up, the Blues take on Zenit St. Petersburg in the Group H of the Champions League and even though the Blues have already secured qualification Tuchel still won’t be able to take this game lightly.

Both Chelsea and Juventus are tied on 12 points at the top of the table which means the English side need to pick up a win in order to ensure that they finish as the first-placed side.

This would mean that Thomas Tuchel won’t be able to play a second-fiddle side on Wednesday which could be a bit of a concern since the manager has a long injury list and he cannot afford any more unwanted injuries.

Zenit have won just one out of their first five matches in the group so on paper they stand no chance against the London outfit. But teams like West Ham and Watford have shown in the past week that the Blues have flaws that could be exploited pretty easily – especially with so many key players out of action.

Chelsea team news vs Zenit:

Edouard Mendy was rather poor during the loss to West Ham United so Kepa Arrizabalaga is going to push for a place in the side. But we don’t think the Spaniard will get a chance to start.

Trevoh Chalobah is out with a hamstring injury which means Thiago Silva and Rudiger will not likely get a rest. Christensen though should be replaced by Azpilicueta.

N’Golo Kante picking up an injury has really messed with Chelsea’s midfield in the past few weeks. Tuchel has tried to use Saul Niguez as Jorginho’s partner but the summer signing has turned out to be a massive failure.

Kante is not likely to return to full fitness for the Zenit game which means either Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Ross Barkley will play in central midfield alongside Jorginho.

Mateo Kovacic is another midfielder who is on the sidelines with an injury and he will only return to action sometime in the middle of December.

Marcos Alonso seems to have picked up a lower back injury during the loss to West Ham United which is a major cause of concern for the manager since Ben Chilwell is already a long-term absentee.

Hopefully, Alonso will be fit in time to take the pitch in midweek or else someone like Christian Pulisic might have to fill in at the left wing-back role.

Kai Havertz was another player who picked up an injury during the weekend, coming off with an ankle injury at half-time and it’s more or less certain that he is going to miss this encounter.

Romelu Lukaku has been coming off the bench since returning from injury but this UCL game will be the ideal match for the summer signing to score some goals and get his confidence back.

Chelsea predicted line up vs Zenit:

Predicted Starting Line-up(3-4-2-1): Edouard Mendy; Silva; Rudiger, Azpilicueta; Jorginho, Ross Barkley, Pulisic/Alonso, Hudson-Odoi; Werner, Ziyech; Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea predicted line up vs Zenit-2021-UCL

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