Updates from the 5.55pm GMT kick-off in Group EGiroud still in Chelsea’s plans but Lampard may not block moveLive scoreboard: the latest from Tuesday’s matchesAnd you can get in touch with Paul by email or on
Twitter 5.11pm GMT
Lampard aims to wrap up qualification early here so there are minimal changes to his starting lineup: this team should be plenty good enough to get the
Job done, though Ziyech and Havertz (and Giroud, obviously) are on the bench in case reinforcements are required. As for Rennes, injuries force them to give a first start of the season to Gerzino Nyamsi, who will have to rise to the challenge quickly in the heart of the home defence.
Rennes: Gomis; Traoré, Da Silva, Nyamsi, Truffert; Bourigeaud, Nzonzi, Camavinga; Doku, Gurassy, Lea Siliki 1.08pm GMT
Hello. Today
Chelsea have a chance to secure their progress in the
Champions League and book themselves a little break: if they win in Rennes, and if Krasnodor fail to upset Sevilla, then Frank Lampard’s team will be guaranteed a place in the knockout stages and the manager can rest his top players in the last two group games.
You’ve got the fancy their chances: things seem to be coming together nicely at Chelsea, who arrive in northern
France on the back of five straight wins in all competitions and unbeaten by anyone this season other than
Liverpool. Their resources are awesome compared to those of Rennes, whose bright early season form has faded. They have slipped down to seventh in Ligue 1 and have lost five of their last six matches, including a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge earlier this month when, admittedly, they were undermined by a preposterous penalty decision and red card. Luck is against them today, too, as injuries force them to rejig their defence, which is an unwelcome complication in advance of a team who tend to score plenty. Rennes have beaten every English team to have visited them in the past (Aston Villa in 2001 and
Arsenal in 2019) but Chelsea hope to prove to be a class above.