Chelsea vs Zenit: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction

Chelsea get their Champions League Group H campaign off and running on Tuesday night, as they host Russian outfit Zenit.

The Blues head into the new season as reigning European champions and will be hoping to improve on their last defence of the crown. Back in the 2012/13 campaign they failed to qualify for the knockout stages - before going on to win the Europa League, to be fair.

They go into Tuesday night's fixture in splendid form, having picked up ten points from a possible 12 in the Premier League after lifting the UEFA Super Cup against Villarreal last month.

Zenit are also in a rich vein of form, kicking off their Russian Premier League title defence strongly. Following a domestic Super Cup win, Sergei Semak has seen his side win five and draw two of their opening seven fixtures as they sit pretty at the summit.

Here's 90min's preview of the clash between the two sides.

How to watch Chelsea vs Zenit on TV

When is it being played? Tuesday 14 September, 20:00 (BST)
Where is it being played? Stamford Bridge, London
What TV channel is it on? BT Sport (UK), fuboTV (US)
Who's the referee? Bartosz Frankowski
Who's on VAR duty? Marco Fritz

Chelsea team news

Christian Pulisic will be absent from the tie, having suffered an ankle injury while away on international duty with the USMNT.

N'Golo Kante is also a doubt after missing Chelsea's 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday due to a knock, although Thomas Tuchel has expressed his optimism that the Frenchman may feature on Tuesday.

Zenit team news

Zenit will have to make do without the services of Russian midfielder Magomed Ozdoyev, while there are concerns over the fitness of defender Dmitri Chistyakov.

Otherwise, Semak will be able to call upon a full strength squad and will likely give a start to central defender Dejan Lovren, who could make his first appearance back in England since leaving Liverpool in the summer of 2020.

Chelsea vs Zenit predicted lineups

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Mount, Lukaku, Havertz

Zenit: Kristyuk; Sutormin, Lovren, Rakitskiy, Santos; Erokhin, Kuzyaev, Claudinho, Malcom; Dzyuba, Azmoun

Chelsea vs Zenit prediction

There's only one side we can pin down as favourites for this one. Chelsea are the holders of the competition and have started the season as strongly and resolutely as we all expected. Now, with Romelu Lukaku leading the line, they're looking increasingly like the team to beat.

That's not to say Zenit come without their strengths. While they have been a little leaky at the back, Semak's side have scored a total of 19 in their eight competitive fixtures so far this campaign and are a threat to anyone.

Tuchel, however, has a brilliantly drilled and now fearsomely clinical side at his disposal and, following another dominant display to seal the club's 600th Premier League win at the weekend, there's only one realistic outcome for this tie.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Zenit