Zenith away 8/12 ko 5:45pm live on BT Sport.

This topic contains 59 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by Luckydestiny Luckydestiny 2 years, 3 months ago.

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  • #2027503

    nine nine nine
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    We move on to Zenith away and a win secures top spot in the Group.

    Sounds like Havertz has joined the walking wounded and others like Jorginho are carrying knocks so the team will be interesting given everything.

    #2027540
    Blueowner
    Blueowner
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    Not a good sign with so many injuries. If this keeps up they should recall a couple of loanees, I’m thinking Broja, That guy is so cool in front of goals, our guys are trying to shoot through players I noticed.

    #2027566
    aindro
    aindro
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    our defeat in Turin doesn’t give us any choice as Juve are lurking. We have to win this match to finish on top. If Lukaku is fit, this is the time to release him from start. He may find his mojo back, we hope. Our central midfield is in a dire situation but this is not a premier league match and Saul has so much experience in UCL. A last chance for him to show us what he can do? If Jorginho is injured, we don’t have choice to field two of Saul, RLC and Barkley as all others central midfielders (Kante, Kovacic) or emergency central midfielders are out injured (Chalobah). Or …. as I suggested in the other thread: play Christensen as defensive midfielder, he has the experience with Denmark in this position.

    #2027604

    nine nine nine
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    • :

    Be suprised to see Lukaku start v Zenith Aindro given Tuchel has said Lukaku wasn’t fit enough for 45 minutes v West Ham. Alternatively Tommy is a very good poker player.😊

    #2027793

    nine nine nine
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    • :

    “As per Tom Roddy of The Times, key midfielder Mateo Kovacic is set to bolster Tuchel’s hand, with the Croatian having returned to full training on Monday.”

    Really good news but it will probably still take some time for Kovacic to get PL match ready.

    #2027857
    chelsea1967
    chelsea1967
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    Zenit chaps, Zenit. Icy Russia something like minus 10 to minus 15 degrees. Damn cold and issues with availability of players. May not be a turn up and collect the points mission as we would have liked. I still expect a win though, probably a drab 1-0 but that will do. The line up will certainly be interesting.

    #2027937

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    Havertz trains but Kovacic doesn’t?

    Kovacic, 27, tested positive for the Covid virus at Cobham on Tuesday morning, just 24 hours after returning to training for the first time following a hamstring injury.

    The Croatia international must now observe a period of isolation away from the rest of his team-mates and is also likely to be unavailable for the Blues’ upcoming league games against Leeds and Everton.

    Speaking at his pre-match press conference this afternoon, Tuchel said Kovacic’s latest setback was a ‘huge’ blow for both for the midfielder and the squad.

    It never rains but it pours.

    #2028055
    aindro
    aindro
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    Really unlucky :(. He was just back but then got covid. It’s not gonna be an easy match away in St Petersburg but we really need to win this one to ensure top group qualification. I still think we should have enough firepower to defeat Zenit. I still think Saul can be useful here as he has tons of experience in UCL. Otherwise, good to hear that Havertz is back as Lukaku doesn’t seem to be ready to play 90 min. Is Alonso fit?

    My team: Mendy – Azpilicueta,Thiago Silva,Rudiger – James,Christensen,RLC,Saul – Mount,Havertz,Pulisic

    chelsea 1967: about soccer in cold weather, Canada defeated Mexico (WC qualification) last November under -9 degree C (with windchill -14 degree C) :D.

    #2028062

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
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    Sounds like Saul might play based on Tuchel’s comments? Midfield or left wing back?

    #2028083
    Luckydestiny
    Luckydestiny
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    I think wing back Nine, tuchel defo been wanting to try him there

    #2028119
    chelsea1967
    chelsea1967
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    Struggling to understand how a country that allows full houses to football stadiums, gets 45,000 new cases a day still concerns itself about someone that tests positive. It looks like a couple of jabs and a booster are meaningless if life is going to continue like this. Anyway enough of that I’m over it all. No Kovacic for a fortnight. It is what it is but still. On that topic it appears Germany have gone back to the dark old days of no fans in the stadium. Its so depressing to watch. Touch wood Australia hasn’t had lockdowns now for a while and our figures are low but that would mainly be due to us now in summer time. Wish you guys all the best as you move through the winter months ahead.

    #2028168
    aindro
    aindro
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    Alonso is amongst the travelling party. Then it looks like Saul will start in midfield with RLC again.

    #2028453

    nine nine nine
    Moderator
    • :

    Interesting team reflecting the focus on the Leeds game on Saturday, the injuries and the need for rotation.

    Hopefully team is strong enough team to get the needed win to top the Group?🤞?

    #2028461
    Luckydestiny
    Luckydestiny
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    • :

    8 changes I count nine and hard to predict how we will do, barkley and saul will need to be very disciplined on and off the ball, CHO will be ultra useful in attack from LWB but a liability in defence, then we have werner and lukaku who based on their salaries should be winning this game on their own 😉

    #2028463
    Luckydestiny
    Luckydestiny
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    So saul does start at wing back and James in centre midfield

    Great start!!!!

    #2028477
    Luckydestiny
    Luckydestiny
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    All over the place defensively last 15 minutes and was only matter of time before that equaliser

    #2028485
    Luckydestiny
    Luckydestiny
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    • :

    Well that was poor after the best of starts

    Two major issues in this game, defensively we are extremely vulnerable, without proper wing backs its just the back 3 holding it down and they have been torn to shreds..and once again we see that when we start timo and lukaku we create much fewer chances…

    Normally don’t care about finishing 1st in group but with the other 3 English sides winning their groups the odds of us getting PSG, Real or Munich are very high if we finish 2nd.

    Hope for improvement in second half

    #2028486
    aindro
    aindro
    Participant
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    Only watched first 10 min during my lunch, really surprised to check that we’re behind now.

    #2028488
    Luckydestiny
    Luckydestiny
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    Our defence been ridiculous aindro bud, they playing through our midfield with ease and when they do our back 3 are all over the place

    Kepa kept it respectable to be fair to him…

    #2028490
    chelsea1967
    chelsea1967
    Participant
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    Great minds there Lucky EXACTLY what I was going to say about finishing 2nd.

    Regarding team selection, playing computer football and just throwing together predominantly a 2nd eleven against an established line up that is not GREATLY inferior is fraught with danger and so it was proven. December is a mine field of improtant matches and TT has obviously looked at the bigger picture starting with Leeds.

    Who knows here though. Three tactical changes may change everything. Time will tell.

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