Zenit St Petersburg vs Chelsea Match Analysis and Prediction

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Chelsea head into the final group stage fixture looking to finish top of Group H with an away victory over Zenit St Petersburg on Wednesday night with kickoff at 20:45.

This will the third time in a row that Zenit St Petersburg gets eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League as they sit third on four points in Group H, five points behind Chelsea and Juventus going into the last match. However, Zenit avoided finishing rock bottom this time around and they will continue their Europe adventures in the Europa League and it’s all thanks to their 1-1 draw against Malmo in the previous group fixture.

Zenit head into the match on a good form as they have not lost in any of their last five matches across all competitions picking up two wins and two draws in the run and are coming off a 2-2 against FC Rostov in their latest Russian Premier League encounter.

Sergei Semak’s men frustrated Chelsea for large spell in London on the opening night before eventually succumbing to 1-0 defeat thanks to 69^th minute header from Lukaku. Semak will therefore be hoping that his side can make Chelsea’s life difficult once more as they look to ended the tournament on a high note.

Meanwhile Chelsea head into the final group fixture having already secured a place in the last sixteen, but will be looking to finish on top of the group as they sit level on 10 points with Juventus but Chelsea are in the first spot due their superior goal difference, meaning, all Chelsea have to do is match Juve’s result against Malmo in the other group fixture and they will finish top.

The Blues sealed their place in the knockout stage with a thumping 4-0 win over Juventus at Stamford Bridge. However, Chelsea have looked a bit shaky in recent weeks with a few glaring individual errors causing them to stumble. They head into the match on the back of a 3-2 defeat to West Ham in their latest Premier League fixture, where they threw away the lead in two occasions.

The Hammers outsmart them in the second half with Arthur Masuaku’s mishit cross beating Edourd Mendy and condemning Chelsea to their second league defeat that saw them relinquish their status at the summit. Thomas Tuchel will therefore be hoping for a response from his men after dropping to third in the Premier League.