Champions League

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Attendance: 48,523

Champions League | Group Stage

Oct 2, 2019 at 8pm UK

Lille
1-2
Chelsea

Osimhen (33')

FT(HT: 1-1)

Abraham (22'), Willian (78')

Preview: How Chelsea could line up against Lille

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 30 September 2019

Sports Mole looks at how Chelsea could line up for Wednesday's Champions League Group H showdown with Lille at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from their matchday one defeat to Valencia when they face Lille at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Wednesday night.

Frank Lampard's managerial debut in the Champions League ended in a 1-0 home loss at the hands of the Spanish outfit, but they go into their second match off the back of two successive wins which have seen them score nine goals.

Lille were also on the losing side on matchday one as they were well beaten by Ajax in Amsterdam, leaving both sides searching for their first European points of the campaign.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how the Blues could line up for Wednesday's showdown.

Out: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Achilles), Emerson Palmieri (thigh), Marco van Ginkel (knee), Antonio Rudiger (groin)
Doubtful: Olivier Giroud (illness), Kurt Zouma (illness), N'Golo Kante (hamstring)

> Click here for Chelsea's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Lampard has a few injury doubts ahead of this match, the main one being N'Golo Kante as he continues to struggle with a hamstring complaint.

The French midfielder was not risked against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend and now faces a race against time to recover in time for Wednesday, with Lampard adamant that he will not rush him back.

Should Kante fall short of a starting berth then Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho could play in a 4-2-3-1 formation - one of three different systems Chelsea have used in their last four games.

Olivier Giroud and Kurt Zouma should both be available again after illness, although both will struggle to get into the team given the form of Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori so far this season.

Further forward, Christian Pulisic could come into the side in place of Pedro while fit-again Callum Hudson-Odoi is also in contention as he looks to build his way back up to full match fitness.