Krasnodar vs Chelsea preview, team news, kick-off

Team news and stats ahead of Krasnodar vs Chelsea in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday; kick-off 5.55pm.

Team news

Thiago Silva will miss Chelsea's Champions League trip to Krasnodar, having been rested by boss Frank Lampard, with Antonio Rudiger back in contention to play.

Rudiger was named in Lampard's matchday squad for the first time this season for Saturday's 0-0 draw against Manchester United and after positive talks with his manager, could finally return to the fold.

Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga remains sidelined with shoulder trouble, so academy stopper Karlo Ziger has joined the Blues' 22-man travelling squad.

But Edouard Mendy should start again in goal, having pulled off successive clean sheets.

Edouard Mendy praise plus more Chelsea analysis on the latest Pitch to Post Review podcast - download on Apple | Spotify

How to follow

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Opta stats

• This will be first ever competitive meeting between FK Krasnodar and Chelsea. The Russian side are unbeaten in their previous two games against English teams in all competitions (W1 D1), with both matches coming against Everton in the 2014-15 UEFA Europa League.
• Chelsea have won five of their six European encounters with Russian opponents (L1), winning all four UEFA Champions League outings.
• FK Krasnodar will compete in their first ever home match in the UEFA Champions League - none of the previous six Russian sides won their first home game in the competition (D4 L2).
• Chelsea have lost just one of their last 11 away games in European competition (W7 D3), although lost their last away game versus Bayern Munich (1-4).
• Chelsea mustered just six attempts on goal in their opening UEFA Champions League match against Sevilla this season, their fewest in a match in the competition since February 2015 vs PSG (2).
• Chelsea drew 0-0 with Sevilla on MD1 of this UEFA Champions League campaign - only in their debut season in the competition in 1999-00 have they failed to win either of their first two group stage games in a single campaign.
• Chelsea's Kai Havertz has been involved in six goals in his last six games in European competition (4 goals, 2 assists), though he's failed to register a single goal involvement in his nine UEFA Champions League appearances so far.
• All seven of Chelsea forward Timo Werner's UEFA Champions League goals have come away from home - he's the top scorer in the competition to have scored 100% of their goals on the road.

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