Chelsea vs Lille: Confirmed line-ups from Stamford Bridge

Chelsea welcome Lille to Stamford Bridge for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie this evening.

Thomas Tuchel has made some changes from the side that beat Crystal Palace in the Premier League at the weekend. However, Edouard Mendy starts in goal once again with Kepa remaining on the bench.

Andreas Christensen keeps his place in defence alongside Thiago Silva while Antonio Rudiger also starts for Chelsea. Malang Sarr drops to the bench where he joins Kenedy and Harvey Vale.

Cesar Azpilicueta is recalled to start on the right flank for the Blues after being rested at the weekend. Marcos Alonso also comes back into the Chelsea starting eleven this evening after missing out against Palace.

Tuchel has started N’Golo Kante once again in midfield but Jorginho drops out with Mateo Kovacic recalled after being rested at Selhurst Park. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Saul Niguez also have to settle for places among the substitutes.

Christian Pulsic keeps his place as the American starts in attack along with Kai Havertz. Hakim Ziyech also keeps his place after scoring a late winner at the weekend so Mason Mount has to settle for a place on the bench.

Lukaku dropped

Romelu Lukaku was criticised for his performance against Palace so the Belgian international is dropped to the bench where he’s joined by Timo Werner.

As for Lille, Jonathan David is the danger man up front and he’s joined by Jonathan Bamba. Renato Sanches also starts for the Ligue 1 outfit so Hatem Ben Arfa has to settle for a place among the substitutes.

Here are the confirmed line-ups:

Chelsea

Mendy; Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso; Pulisic, Havertz, Ziyech

Subs:  Kepa; Bettinelli, Jorginho, Lukaku, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Saul, Mount, Kenedy, Sarr, Vale

Lille

Jardim; Djalo, Botman, Fonte, Celik; Xeka, André, Onana; Sanches, David, Bamba

Subs: Grbic, Raux, Gudmundsson, Ben Arfa, Yilmaz, Lihadji, Gomes, Weah, Zhegrova, Bradaric