Chelsea are the reigning UEFA Champions League holders, and given that status, they’ll want to advance through to the UCL knockout round as group winners, not the second place team. In order to guarantee that, they’ll need to win Wednesday night in St. Petersburg.
Let’s take a look at who Blues boss Thomas Tuchel could select for the midweek European clash as he aims to do so. Despite the west London side being set to miss some key pieces, they are still heavily favored to get it done.
Chelsea FC at Zenit St. Petersburg FYIs
Kickoff: 545pm GMT Wed Dec 8, Krestovsky Stadium
Team News: go here
UCL Standings: Chelsea 1st, 12 pts Zenit 3rd, 4 pts
Form Guide (UCL): Chelsea WWWLW Zenit DLLWL
Form Guide (All Competitions): Chelsea DWWDW Zenit LDWDW
Chelsea will be without several key players, including now, potentially, Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz. That said, they’ll still have a very loaded and talented lineup available for selection, and that means manager Thomas Tuchel will be able to pick a very strong team, which we think he will do for this one.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction at Zenit St. Petersburg
Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, James; Mount, Ziyech; Lukaku
Chelsea 2, Zenit St. Petersburg 0
The Blues won the reverse fixture, which is the only previous meeting between the two sides. They’ll take care of business in this one too.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.