Chelsea travels to Russia in one of the toughest matches of the young season, here are three things to watch for against Krasnodar.
Outside of Eastern Europe, one would be hard pressed to find a Russian Super League fanatic. Although there are surely some, the vast majority of casual supporters know next to nothing about Chelsea’s next opponent, FC Krasnodar. Luckily for us, however, there are a plethora of storylines to discuss surrounding the Blues leading up to this match. Here are three things to look for as Chelsea hopes to return home to England with another positive result in the Champions League:
1. Rotation
Chelsea—like many of the teams surviving in multiple competitions at the moment—has to prioritize matches this early on in the season. Due to the Coronavirus, many major European leagues have been condensed in order to keep a regular schedule in the years ahead. This has put a tremendous amount of pressure on clubs around the continent as the usual hectic few weeks around Boxing Day and New Years have been stretched throughout the entire season.
When the Blues take the pitch in Russia on Wednesday, it’ll be their fourth match in 11 days. Frank Lampard and his staff have made minimal changes to the starting XI throughout the last few games, so it’ll be interesting to see which players get the nod for Chelsea. Multiple signs point to Lampard making some significant changes, however. Even though the Blues earned a draw during the first Champions League match against Sevilla, they still sit in a good position after just one week.
The upcoming game may be the toughest travel wise, but it’s the easiest in terms of competition. Krasnodar is playing its first real Champions League side (Rennes was also a debutant in the UCL a week ago) and by far the toughest team it’ll play all season. The Russian squad currently sits in 8th in the Premier League, earning just 18 points from 12 matches. For these reasons, Lampard must be confident in his “B team’s” ability to get a result midweek. Further, given Chelsea’s current place in the Premier League—albeit early—taking all three points against Burnley looks like the priority at the moment.
The rotations in the starting XI are going to decide whether this match is a drubbing or a nail-bitter, but count on the latter given some seldom used faces will find themselves thrown into action at Krasnodar.