Chelsea will entertain Zenit Saint Petersburg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night as they look to kick off their UEFA Champions League campaign with a win in front of their home supporters. The Blues managed to secure a comfortable 3-0 victory over Aston Villa last weekend which will keep them in high spirits ahead of this game.
Thomas Tuchel will stick with his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation and is expected to make a few changes to his team for this European clash at home. We can expect Cesar Azpilicueta to start at the back as Trevoh Chalobah makes way for him and drops to the bench.
3-4-2-1 Chelsea Predicted Lineup To Face Zenit Saint Petersburg
Defence
Edouard Mendy will feature in goal for the Blues after he kept a clean sheet versus the Villans in his last outing. Tuchel will opt for a back three of Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger as they try to keep the Zenit attackers at bay in midweek.
As mentioned earlier, Trevoh Chalobah will offer cover for the centre-back positions on the bench.
Midfield
N’Golo Kante is a major doubt for this game, so Jorginho is expected to get the nod to start along with Mateo Kovacic in midfield. The Chelsea duo will hope to establish their superiority over the opposition at the centre of the park.
Mason Mount and Kai Havertz will probably get a chance to operate on the shoulders of Romelu Lukaku in the final third. Both of them will carry most of the creative workload for Chelsea in the Zenit half. Hakim Ziyech will have to settle for a spot on the bench as he waits for his chance to shine in the second half if needed. However, Christian Pulisic will not be available for this game because of injury.
Attack
Romelu Lukaku has been in red hot form for Chelsea of late and will come into this contest on the back of a match-winning display against Dean Smith’s men last weekend when he scored two fine goals at Stamford Bridge. The Belgian international will be eager to put in a similar performance in this upcoming Champions League game as well.
Timo Werner will be named on the bench but could come on to make an impact in the latter stages of the game if Tuchel decides to call upon his services.
