Zenit St Petersburg v Chelsea: Champions League – live!

The teams are heading out of the tunnel, with Roman Abramovich up in the gods watching on. By the way, the space-age Gazprom Arena will also be the venue for May’s final.

Here are the pre-game thoughts of Thomas Tuchel: “We need fresh legs, because we want to play a high intensity game. It’s a moment to trust other players and to push them … we don’t want to [just] manage games.

“We miss Jorginho, Kovacic, Kanté – Romelu is back, let’s see how long he can play. It’s crucial because we need everybody in shape. Rom is missing rhythm and game minutes, that’s why he starts today.”

Stat alert: If Chelsea secure top spot in Group H, it’ll be the first time since 2006-07 that all four English clubs have topped their Champions League group. In that season Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all reached the semi-finals (Arsenal went out in, er, the last 16) but it was Milan who won the trophy.

So, Thomas Tuchel has rung the changes from the weekend defeat to West Ham – only Andreas Christensen, Reece James and Mason Mount remain in the team. Romelu Lukaku starts up front, with Saúl another notable selection. The on-loan midfielder has had a rough time of it at Chelsea so far, but could make amends tonight.

Sergei Semak goes with a line-up that’s close to his strongest, with Sardar Azmoun in as the lone striker ahead of Artem Dzyuba. Four Brazilians – Douglas Santos, Wendel, Malcom and Claudinho – plus Colombia’s Wilmar Barrios start for the hosts.

Zenit (5-4-1): Kerzhakov; Karavaev, Barrios, Lovren (c), Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos; Malcom, Kuzyaev, Wendel, Claudinho; Azmoun.
Subs: Odoevskiy, Krugovoi, Byazrov, Mostovoy, Sutormin, Erokhin, Dzyuba, Ozdoev, Kravtsov, Kuznetsov, Khotulev.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta (c), Christensen, Sarr, James, Barkley, Saúl, Hudson-Odoi; Mount, Lukaku, Werner.

Subs: Mendy, Bettinelli, Rüdiger, Alonso, Thiago Silva, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech, Havertz.

Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Neth).

Chelsea’s European title defence got off to a slow start, before a dramatic lurch into top gear against Juventus last time out. The 4-0 victory was so emphatic, it seems strange that they could still miss out on top spot in the group to the Italians, who host Malmö this evening.

As long as they match Juventus’ result tonight, Chelsea will win the group and be seeded in Monday’s last-16 draw. Juve may be an indifferent rabble this season but Thomas Tuchel must assume they will see off Group H’s bottom side in Turin, so winning is the aim at the futuristic, snow-capped Gazprom Arena.

Tuchel is without Jorginho, N’Golo Kanté and others, with the coach keen to make amends for the league loss to West Ham. Zenit were stubborn opponents in their 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge but with their Europa League ticket booked and a big game against Dinamo Moscow on Sunday, their focus may not be so sharp this evening.

Kick-off is at 5.45pm GMT, 8.45pm in Saint Petersburg. давай!