Chelsea face Zenit St Petersburg on the road in their final Champions League group stage game this evening.
Thomas Tuchel has made several changes from the side that lost at West Ham on Saturday as the Blues boss looks to protect his players ahead of this weekends Premier League clash with Leeds United.
Kepa is recalled in goal with Edouard Mendy making way while Cesar Azpilicueta starts in the back three alongside Andreas Christensen and Malang Sarr. Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva are named among the Chelsea substitutes.
Callum Hudson-Odoi starts on the wing while Reece James is also given another start so Marcos Alonso drops out. Ben Chilwell remains on the sidelines as he’s been ruled out for several weeks with a knee injury.
Saul Niguez is given another chance to impress this evening as the Spaniard lines-up alongside Ross Barkley in midfield. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is given a rest while Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic are all ruled out for Chelsea.
Tuchel has started Romelu Lukaku in attack and the Belgian international is supported by Timo Werner and Mason Mount this evening. Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech are all options from the Chelsea bench.
Here are the confirmed line-ups:
Zenit
Kerzhakov, Karavaev, Lovren, Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos, Malcom, Wendel, Kuzyaev, Barrios, Claudinho, Azmoun
Subs: Odoevski, Byazrov, Krugovoi, Mostovoy, Sutormin, Erokhin, Dzyuba, Ozdoev, Kravtsov, Kuznetsov, Khotulev
Chelsea
Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Sarr, Hudson-Odoi, Barkley, Saul, James, Mount, Lukaku, Werner
Subs: Bettenelli, Mendy, Rudiger, Alonso, Silva, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech, Havertz
