This is the 61st unique starting XI that Frank Lampard has named in 65 games as Chelsea manager. He’ll be hoping this side can make it three clean sheets in a row and offer a lot more going forward than they did against Sevilla and Manchester United.
No such personnel headaches for Frank Lampard. Indeed, Thiago Silva is the only notable absentee as Lampard has opted to rest the veteran defender after an inspired performance at the weekend. Still, there’s four changes for the Blues as Antonio Rudiger gets his first start of the season. Mateo Kovacic is preferred alongside Jorginho and Hakim Ziyech makes his full debut for the club. Should it be needed, Lampard has named a strong bench that includes Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud, and Tammy Abraham.
As mentioned, this is a Krasnodar side that has been plagued by injuries and Murad Musaev has made three changes to the team from the weekend. The back four are unchanged but in comes Daniil Utkin to partner Tonny Vilhena in the midfield in place of Eduard Spertsyan. Kristoffer Olsson returns to the starting XI after missing the Spartak Moscow game and Marcus Berg starts up front on his own with Shapi Suleymanov dropping to the bench.
CHELSEA SUBS: Willy Caballero, Karlo Ziger, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori, Andreas Christensen, Emerson, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Edouard Mendy; Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, Ben Chilwell; Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic; Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kai Havertz, Hakin Ziyech; Timo Werner.
KRASNODAR SUBS: Andrey Sinitsyn, Leon Sabua, Maksim Kutovoy, Vladislav Litvinov, Shapi Suleymanov, Evgeni Gorodov, Eduard Spertsyan.
KRASNODAR (4-2-3-1): Matvey Sofanov; Evgeni Chernov, Aleksandr Martynovich, Kaio, Igor Smolnikov; Tonny Vilhena, Daniil Utkin; Cristian Ramirez, Yuri Gazinskiy, Kristoffer Olsson; Marcus Berg.
In their respective league campaigns, a much-depleted Krasnodar squad are languishing down in eighth in the Russian Premier League after a 3-1 defeat to Spartak Moscow at the weekend, while their opponents aren’t faring any better. The Blues sit 10th in the English Premier League, without a win in their last two, and after playing out a dour 0-0 draw with Manchester United at the weekend.
This is the first time these sides will lock horns, and both come into the game sitting on one point after the opening round of group games. Krasnodar recorded a very respectable 1-1 draw with Rennes in their inaugural Champions League outing, while Chelsea and Sevilla finished goalless.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of this Champions League Group E clash between Krasnodar and Chelsea.
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