Mendy Benched: Chelsea’s Predicted Lineup for Their Champions League Opener against Dinamo Zagreb

Chelsea begin their 2022-23 Champions League campaign with a trip to Croatia to square off against fellow Group E side Dinamo Zagreb. Following a shaky start to their PL season, Chelsea now have the chance to begin their UCL campaign on a good note.

Dinamo Zagreb had to earn their place in the group stages through three qualifying rounds to book their spot among European football’s elite. They might be the underdogs in the group, but this is a club that reached the 2020-21 Europa League quarter-finals and posted wins over West Ham United and Sevilla in last year’s competition.

Regarding Chelsea’s predicted starting lineup against Dinamo Zagreb, Tuchel is expected to make some changes to his side that got a controversial win against West Ham last weekend.

Mendy is expected to sit this one out on the bench, with Kepa Arrizabalaga expected to be handed his first start of the season. The Senegalese goalkeeper was hit in his ribs by Jarrod Bowen last weekend and Tuchel has said that he was in a lot of pain.

Chelsea’s new boy Wesley Fofana is expected to start in defence. We also expect to see Ben Chilwell in the starting lineup. Kovacic is expected to be in the starting lineup as well.

Up front, Tuchel is expected to go with his usual front three consisting of Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, and Mason Mount. The images below show Chelsea’s predicted starting lineup against Dinamo Zagreb.

Chelsea’s possible starting lineup:

Arrizabalaga; Fofana, Silva, Koulibaly; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Mount, Sterling; Havertz.

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