Chelsea head into this group decider unbeaten over the past four Champions League games but aiming for the first win of the campaign at Stamford Bridge. Yesterday Kurt Zouma likened Lille’s visit to a one-off final, but the result in Amsterdam between Ajax and Valencia will also affect which two sides finish top of Group H, and in what order.

The French team, who already know a fourth place finish is their fate, will have the advantage of freshness as they played on Friday evening, the day before Chelsea were beaten at Goodison Park. The win over Brest lifted them to third in Ligue 1 and, despite the motivation of professional pride and potential for claiming a famous scalp, coach Christophe Galtier may have one eye on their next domestic game, against Montpellier on Friday, in his team selection.

Chelsea, smarting from the Everton setback, have a proud record of achieving objectives in the opening stage of Europe’s elite competition whatever our form elsewhere. If successful, Frank Lampard will be the first English coach to steer a team through the six Champions League group games into the knockout phase since his uncle Harry Redknapp in 2010.

All tonight’s permutations

Chelsea have lost just one of our past 20 games in Europe (with 14 wins and five draws) and will qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a victory of any sort over Lille. Even a share of the points with the French side will suffice in the event of Valencia losing at Ajax. The Amsterdam side won 3-0 at the Mestalla in October.

Wins for Chelsea and Valencia would see both clubs progress with one point more than Ajax, with the Spaniards topping the group. That is because the ranking of clubs who are tied on points is firstly decided by group results between the teams involved.

So, should the Blues and Los Che both lose this evening, Valencia would progress to the round of 16 at our expense as a result of superiority in head-to-head matches.

Equally, if the Blues and Ajax end the evening level on 11 points, Chelsea will win the group on the basis of a better record in those head-to-head encounters.

Tonight’s visitors Lille are too far behind to catch the Londoners, who can finish no lower than third, meaning a place in Monday’s Europa League round of 32 draw.

Lille in London

This is Lille Olympique’s first appearance at Stamford Bridge since a Wednesday afternoon friendly on 15 November 1950, a 3-0 victory for the Pensioners.

Tonight, Chelsea will be without injured duo Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud, France’s World Cup-winning striker. On the positive side, defender Toni Rudiger could return from his lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Cesar Azpilicueta and Jorginho are one caution away from a single match suspension in this competition. The Italy midfielder is the Blues’ leading marksman in this season’s campaign with two.

2019/20 Champions League goalsJorginho 2 (2 pens)Tammy Abraham 1Cesar Azpilicueta 1Michy Batshuayi 1Reece James 1Mateo Kovacic 1Christian Pulisic 1Willian 1

A goal for Willian would take him clear as the Blues’ fourth-highest scorer in this competition.

All-time Champions League goals Didier Drogba 36Frank Lampard 23Nicolas Anelka 12John Terry 10Fernando Torres 10Willian 10

Lille are set up to absorb pressure and break quickly, often with long balls to target man Victor Osimhen. Overall, Chelsea defeated the hosts’ aerial bombardment in the win 2-1 at Stade Piere Mauroy. Marcos Alonso won nine headers and Kurt Zouma five, while Osimhen won four.

In Jonathan Ikone and Renato Sanches, the French side have forwards keen to take on opponents and press defenders whenever possible. Frank Lampard countered their threats by fielding a three-man defence, with Alonso at left wing-back for the first hour until Callum Hudson-Odoi came on. Jorginho, who hit the post late in the first half in that game, could return after starting on the bench recently.

Christophe Galtier switched to a 3-4-3 formation at home to Valencia, gaining Lille’s only point of the Champions League campaign to date. They were smashed 4-1 in the return at the Mestalla with the same system, though, and have mostly reverted to 4-2-3-1 since, hitting form with three straight 1-0 wins in Ligue 1.

FA Cup and Champions League catch-up

Our home FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest – a repeat of round three last season – has been selected for broadcast to overseas viewers and will kick off at 2.01pm on Sunday 5 January.

The draw for the Champions League round of 16 will take place from 11am UK time on Monday 16 December. Europa League round of 32 teams will discover their fate from 12pm the same day.

Meanwhile, in Amsterdam…

The match on the other side of Group H match promises to be fascinating, with both teams suffering blows for different reasons.

Ajax won the reverse fixture at Valencia 3-0 and have never previously lost to Los Che. Yet six of the past eight visiting sides from La Liga have won in Amsterdam and Erik Ten Haag’s Eredivisie leaders were also surprisingly beaten 2-0 by Willem II on their own patch on Friday.

Daley Blind and Joel Veltman will return from suspension this evening, but frontmen Quincy Promes and Zakaria Labyad are doubts, and David Neres is injured.

Valencia, who have not reached the last 16 of Europe’s elite since 2012/13, looked fluent in a 4-2 derby win over Levante on Saturday and have only lost twice in 13 games against Netherlands opponents.

However, the Spaniards’ already extensive list of casualties could now include first-choice goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, who limped off at the weekend. Experienced defender Ezequiel Garay is also suspended after picking up a third yellow in our 2-2 draw at Mestalla.

Staggered kick-off times

Final round matches within each group will kick off at the same time, but two games in Group E tonight and Group C tomorrow will start in the 5.55pm slot. All the rest are at 8pm.

Coming up

Saturday’s visitors Bournemouth, on a run of five straight defeats in the top flight, have a clear week but a full treatment room, with Nathan Ake the latest casualty during their home loss to Liverpool.

The last game of the Conti Cup group stage for Emma Hayes’s side is against Reading tomorrow at Kingsmeadow from 7pm, with tickets priced at £3, £1 concessions. The two sides meet again in the WSL in early January.

Fresh from an 8-0 league victory over Swansea that guarantees top spot during the winter break, Chelsea’s Under-18s take on Huddersfield in round three of the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday 18 December at Kingsmeadow. Tickets are £3, £1 concessions.

Weah meet again

Lille’s 22-year-old American Timothy Weah is the son of George Weah, a Ballon D’Or winner who performed a wonderful cameo for the Blues in early 2000. His father is warmly remembered for heading the only goal in his debut against Spurs, and was presented with an FA Cup winner’s medal at the end of his stay.

Since 2018, Weah senior has served as President of his native Liberia, but in 2013 he arranged for his Timothy, then 13, to have a try-out at Cobham. It was not to be then and, sadly, eight years later injury will prevent Timothy fulfilling the dream of playing on the Bridge’s hallowed turf (albeit for the wrong side).

There are other connections between the two sides. Visiting striker Loic Remy was a Premier League and League Cup winner with the Blues in 2014/15, while Tammy Abraham and Renato Sanches were team-mates at Swansea.

Champions League fixtures – matchday six

(all BT Sport)

TuesdayNapoli v Genk 5.55pmRB Salzburg v Liverpool 5.55pmAjax v Valencia 8pmBenfica v Zenit 8pmBorussia Dortmund v Slavia Prague 8pmChelsea v Lille 8pmInter Milan v Barcelona 8pmLyon v RB Leipzig 8pm

WednesdayDinamo Zagreb v Manchester City 5.55pmShakhtar Donetsk v Atalanta 5.55pmAtletico Madrid v Lokomotiv Moscow 8pmBayer Leverkusen v Juventus v 8pmBayern Munich v Tottenham 8pmClub Brugge v Real Madrid 8pmOlympiacos v Red Star Belgrade 8pmPSG v Galatasaray 8pm

Click for all the pre-match facts and stats