UEFA: Chelsea vs Zenit | Dec 9 - 1:45AM

[Mary C]

POTENTIAL LINEUPS: 

Chelsea: 

1. Kepa Arrizabalaga(G) 

2. Antonio Rüdiger 

3. Marcos Alonso 

4. Andreas Christensen 

5. Thiago Silva 

6. Trevoh Chalobah 

7. Ben Chilwell 

8. Reece James 

9. César Azpilicueta 

10.Malang Sarr 

11. Xavier Mbuyamba 

 

Zenit: 

1. Mikhail Kerzhakov (G) 

2. Dmitriy Chistyakov 

3. Douglas Santos 

4. Danil Krugovoi 

5. Dejan Lovren 

6. Vyacheslav Karavaev 

7. Yaroslav Rakitskiy 

8.Wilmar Barrios 

9. Wendel 

10. Daler Kuzyaev 

11. Andrei Mostovoy 

 

Matchday 6 caps off 2021 for the UEFA Champions League! For Group H, Chelsea (CHE) faces Zenit St Petersburg (ZEN) on Thursday December 9, 2021, 1:45 AM CT in Gazprom Arena, St Petersburg, RU. Find out our analysis and further news regarding this upcoming match. 

UCL Group H third team Zenit has several goals to score to get in line with Chelsea and Juventus. With a +8-goal difference, their 4 points, 1 win, 1 draw, and 3 losses fare poorly against the current top placers with 12 points, 4 wins, and 1 loss. Juventus meets fourth seed Malmö FF at Matchday 6 and it seems like both teams at the top are getting shot down for a more defined ranking to end the year’s league. 

Due to injuries, there is a long list of Chelsea players absent for the upcoming game. The Blues will forge on without: 

• Forward Kai Havertz is still recuperating from an ankle knock against West Ham. 
• Midfielder Mateo Kovačić as he is currently recovering from a hamstring injury. He is out for the rest of the year. 
• Midfielder N'Golo Kanté suffers a recent knee injury and his return date is still unknown. 
• Midfielder Ben Chilwell has a partial ACL tear from their recent match with Juventus. 
• Midfielder Marcos Alonso experienced back pain during their defeat against West Ham. His recovery is still uncertain. It is still unknown whether he will be fit to return. 

• Defender Trevoh Chalobah picked up a complication in his hamstring that makes him miss the upcoming game for further examination. 

In a pre-match interview given by Chelsea premier league manager Thomas Tuchel before they met with West Ham, he relayed the struggle of managing the team given its continuous absence of players: “Almost need a list! We did not train with Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo, Ben Chilwell and Trevoh Chalobah. They are all out for tomorrow. Everyone else is available. Every player (out) is a player too much. It is a lot of midfield players. It has been many days without Kova, we miss him.Of course, Ben Chilwell is a long one. For Trevoh we need more examinations to see how bad it is.” 

On the other side, Zenit has Goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk still recovering from a knee injury. He is expected to return around February. 

This match determines whether UCL Group H forerunner Chelsea remains on top alongside Juventus or will Zenit strike them down to second? Follow the official website for European football uefa.com for constant news and announcements.