Chelsea has nothing to play for against Krasnodar and the Russians have locked in Europa League. Expect things to get weird at Stamford Bridge.
For Chelsea, this is a match to rotate as much as possible at the start of a crazy winter schedule after an already crazy fall schedule. Winning is obviously preferable but for all intents and purposes, this is a glorified friendly for Chelsea.
Krasnodar also has nothing to play for. The Champions League debutants only had to defeat Rennes once and draw the other fixture to guarantee their entry into the Europa League. They have a few more games left in the Russian Premier League before their winter break and ground to make up, so they probably won’t be coming to Stamford Bridge looking for a trophy with a massive asterisk.
All together that will make for a truly strange game. Only pride is on the line as the two teams clash. Expect things to get very weird as Frank Lampard challenges his rotational options and some youth to make a statement.
One thing to keep an eye on is yellow card accumulation. In the Champions League, three yellow cards will lead to a one game suspension. Currently, that group includes Jorginho, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, and Hakim Ziyech.
Of that group, Jorginho might have been expected to start and given how unlikely it is that he plays in the Round of 16, he’ll probably still get a start. Mount will be rested to keep him fresh for the winter and available for the Round of 16. Ziyech is already injured so that solves that problem. Kovacic is the trickiest of the bunch, but Lampard may err on the side of caution just in case Kovacic is needed next round.
Tactically, Krasnodar showed last time out how organized and efficient they are. They looked an exceptionally well drilled team and that helped to close the talent gap between the two sides. Even still they couldn’t hold off Chelsea and now they have less of an incentive to play a strong side.
Chelsea will surely rotate massively but the tactics are pretty well bedded in now. Just like against Sevilla last week, several players will get a chance to lay down a marker for Lampard. Olivier Giroud showed that it is very possible to fight your way into Lampard’s Premier League team. The likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi will be looking to have a similar happy hunting ground and trajectory.
Other than that there isn’t much to say. This is the bells and whistles version of the friendly against Brighton in preseason. Obviously everyone will want to win but first place is first place and the Blues have bigger fish to fry. Lampard will mainly be looking for a similar hunger that Giroud showed last week. More than anything, he wants a difficult lineup selection when the Everton match arrives.
As already stated this match will be weird but an opportunity for many. They can seize it like Giroud or they can bide their time through the long winter. It is in their hands.