Team
news and stats ahead of Chelsea vs Juventus in the Champions League group
stage on Tuesday; kick-off 8pm.
Team news
Romelu Lukaku has an outside chance of taking a seat on the Chelsea bench
for the Juventus clash, having returned to team training on Monday. The
striker has been missing with an ankle problem and must prove his fitness
after checks with the Chelsea medical team.
Kai Havertz is a doubt due to tight hamstrings, but Jorginho is fit and
available.
Asked if Lukaku could be ready to take on Juventus, Tuchel replied: "We're
not sure yet, we have one more training. Yesterday he was in team training
and seemed okay. Let's see about the reaction.
"He has right now, in the next minutes, an appointment with doctors and
physios to see about the reaction and see about the next training.
"Maybe we have the chance to bring back players to the squad, so maybe he
has the chance to be in the squad for the last minutes, but that will be the
absolute maximum we can get out of the situation right now.
"Jorginho is absolutely okay, we had to take Kai off at Leicester because of
hamstring problems - he felt a bit of tension in the hamstrings. So we took
him off and we have some doubts with him, we need to check to see if he can
train without any problems. This is more or less the question mark.
"Timo Werner feels good, he was in training yesterday, he's back in the
squad again."
Group H - Chelsea through if they avoid
defeat
Champions League holders Chelsea, who were beaten in the reverse fixture in
September, trail leaders Juventus by three points after four games in Group
H. They need to avoid defeat at Stamford Bridge to confirm their place in
the round of 16.
Zenit St Petersburg can still mathematically reach the knockout rounds, but
their Champions League campaign will be ended if Chelsea gain a point
against Juventus. Malmo are bottom of Group H and cannot qualify.
Opta stats
Since beating Juventus in the first ever meeting between the two clubs (1-0
in the UEFA Champions League in February 2009), Chelsea are winless in their
last four games against the Italian side in European competition (D2 L2).
Juventus have won their last two games against Chelsea in European
competition (3-0 in 2012 and 1-0 earlier this season), and they could become
the first team to record three consecutive victories against Chelsea in the
UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea's last 10 games against Italian opponents in the UEFA Champions
League have seen the Blues record only one victory (D3 L6), beating Napoli
4-1 in March 2012. They've failed to keep a clean sheet in all 10 games in
this run, conceding 21 goals in total.
Juventus have won each of their last three away games against English
opponents in the UEFA Champions League, beating Manchester City in 2015 and
Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in 2018. If they win this game, they
will become the first team to win four consecutive away games against
English opponents in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League.
Juventus have won each of their last five games in the UEFA Champions
League; the longest current run in the competition, along with Bayern
Munich. A victory in this game would see the Old Lady establish a new
club-record for consecutive wins (6) in the European Cup/UEFA Champions
League.
In the opening four matchdays of this season's UEFA Champions League,
Chelsea have conceded the fewest goals (1), shots (18) and shots on target
(3) of any team. They also have the lowest expected goals against total
(2.1) in the competition this term.
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