Group E draws to a close this evening with Chelsea hosting Dinamo Zagreb, reigning champions of Croatia and the first visitors to Stamford Bridge from that country. The Plavi (Blues) are one of just 11 sides we have played competitively and are yet to beat.

The clocks went back last weekend but mercifully not far enough to relive Saturday’s Hallowe’en experience at Brighton. Unusually, the Blues will welcome the current hectic match schedule as it offers an early opportunity to banish the memory of head coach Graham Potter’s first defeat after nine without loss.

Tonight’s guests fared little better in their last game, though, suffering their first domestic league loss since April in thick fog at the home of bogey side Ostijek. Dinamo have a clearer view tonight of what they need to do: a win would not only make them just the second group opponent to beat Chelsea home and away, but could redirect their European excursion into the Europa League – providing Red Bull Salzburg lose at AC Milan.

Milan, the home of opera, is where the real drama could unfold. The Rossoneri can secure a place in the Round of 16 by avoiding defeat, while the Austrians could finish as high as second or low as fourth depending on results. All matches within each group kick-off at the same time, both Group E games starting at 8pm.

• Watch who won Chelsea Goal of the Month

• Why tonight's team selection is so intriguing

• Who's been training?

Chelsea were confirmed as group winners last week and will discover our Round of 16 rivals on Monday. The Blues have won six and drawn four of the past 10 Champions League outings at Stamford Bridge, averaging 2.3 goals scored per game.

Chelsea team news

Last week at Salzburg, Graham Potter became the first Chelsea coach since 2011/12 Champions League-winner Robert Di Matteo to remain unbeaten in his opening four Champions League matches.

However, stripped of key players in crucial areas yet again, his run in all competitions ended on Saturday. Brighton went man-for-man on the Blues’ three centre-backs who were overwhelmed in the opening stages. Thiago Silva was twice forced to head off the line chances he himself had uncharacteristically helped create.

Despite the heavy final scoreline, there was the familiar refrain that had opportunities at 2-0 and 3-1 been scored not scorned, it could have changed the outcome. In the Champions League the Blues’ eight goals have been notched by seven different players, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the scoring with two. In the reverse fixture defeat, just three of our 15 attempts on goal were on target and decisiveness in the Dinamo box was lacking. Thankfully there is ample time for remedies.

Victory this evening would make it four wins in a row for the Blues in Europe, though with top spot secured and Arsenal arriving on Sunday, Potter may aim to rest one or two high-mileage performers. Mateo Kovacic’s absence from training yesterday might provide an opening for midfield loanee Denis Zakaria, who is yet to feature, and there could be a start for bustling striker Armando Broja.

Edou Mendy seems certain to reclaim the gloves, having replaced the injured Kepa at half-time on Saturday, while fit-again Kalidou Koulibaly may need some sharpening minutes after missing three games, possibly prompting a back-four set-up. Conor Gallagher and Mason Mount being one booking away from a single-match suspension might affect the head coach’s thinking.

Potter has suggested he will select a strong team this evening, though Chelsea’s UEFA Youth League line-up earlier at 1pm could hint at any younger players drafted in. Unfortunately, in-form recent signings such as Mason Burstow, Cesare Casadei and Omari Hutchinson are ineligible.

Top ten UEFA club coefficients
1 Man City 124 points
2 Bayern 123
3 Chelsea, Liverpool 116
5 PSG 105
6 Real Madrid 103
7 Barcelona 96
8 Man United 93
9 Juventus 90
10 Ajax 87
(As of Monday 1 November)

Smash and Zagreb

Three-quarters of Dinamo Zagreb’s points and a third of their goals came in the 1-0 beating of the Blues in September, despite the Croatia champions conceding two-thirds of possession on the night.

Only one team has ever beaten Chelsea home and away in a Champions League group stage campaign: Basel in 2013/14, with future Blue Mohamed Salah scoring in both games. Yet Ante Cacic’s side have a poor away record in this competition, recording 16 defeats from the past 17 games on the road, including the two this season.

Mislav Orsic, the clear danger man who netted the winner against the Londoners in September, and leading scorer Bruno Petkovic, who assisted him, came off the bench in Dinamo’s weekend 1-0 setback at Osijek, as did rested skipper Arijan Ademi. Cacic set up in a back four for that trip but has tended to favour a 3-1-4-2 formation in this competition and may be without two centre-backs, the unrelated Sutalos, Josip and Bosko.

League leaders back home, Dinamo play an aggressive and direct brand of football, with Dino Peric topping the charts for clearances and goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic delivering the longest distance in forward passes, though with a 65 per cent completion rate.

The visitors know they must win to have a lifeline to Europa League football next year but after Saturday’s defeat squeezed the gap at the top, updates from Group E’s other game may prompt Cacic to safeguard his top players for the domestic league.

Man in the middle

Francois Letexier heads up a French group of officials this evening. His only previous Chelsea match was the 4-0 home victory over Malmo in October 2021 in which Jorginho netted two penalties.

Blues aim to finish with a flourish

Having gathered one point from the two opening fixtures, Chelsea could finish the group with 13 points – providing we win at the Bridge this evening. Only four of the Blues’ previous 18 campaigns have claimed more points than that, and defeat tonight would match our lowest ever tally, 10 years ago as defending champions. The Londoners have now progressed to the Champions League knockout stage in 18 of our 19 campaigns, 13 times as group winners.

Chelsea have reached double figures in points in each of our group-stage campaigns in Europe’s elite tournament, the only club (over two or more seasons) to do so.

Previous Champions League group points totals

15 2010/11 (Group F)

14 2020/21 (E), 2014/15 (G), 2009/10 (D)

13 2021/22 (H), 2015/16 (G), 2006/07 (A), 2004/05 (H), 2003/04 (G)

12 2013/14 (E), 2007/08 (B)

11 2019/20 (H), 2017/18 (C), 2011/12 (E), 2008/09 (A), 2005/06 (G), 1999/00 (H)

10 2012/13 (E)

We have history

Although matchday one in September was our only previous competitive meeting with Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea did play their forebears Gradjanski Zagreb during a post-season tour of cities along the river Danube way back in May 1937. Local newspapers were full of praise for the Londoners, who won 1-0.

‘The homogeneity of the English was exemplary, and the well-executed W-system was presented as it really is,’ enthused one reporter. ‘The attack had a master dribbler in winger [George] Gibson and an excellent competitor and technician in centre-forward [Joe] Bambrick.

‘Gradjanski had a rough start. The first English attack in the first minute ended with a masterful trick by the left-winger Gibson, who brilliantly passed [Bernard] Hugl and deceived [goalkeeper Franjo] Glaser, placing the ball slowly into the net.’

Double own goals

The Brighton result brought a host of unwelcome firsts: defeat for Graham Potter as Chelsea’s head coach, league loss to the Seagulls, and two own goals conceded in a Premier League game.

Across all competitions, Tammy Abraham and Kepa Arrizabalaga accidentally accounted for two of Ajax’s goals in the famous 4-4 Champions League draw at the Bridge on 5 November 2019. But in the league, the Blues’ last such double came in a 3-1 loss at Derby in February 1983, when goalie Steve Francis and midfielder Johnny Bumstead handed the Rams a two-goal lead.

Next steps in the Champions League

The Round of 16 draw will take place from 11am on Monday 7 November. As a seeded club Chelsea will be matched with a non-Premier League opponent who finished second in their group, and the second leg will be played at Stamford Bridge. Tuesday’s results confirmed four of the six clubs the Blues could be matched with on Monday.

CHELSEA’S POTENTIAL ROUND OF 16 OPPONENTS
Group B Bruges
Group C Inter Milan
Group D Eintracht Frankfurt
Group F Real Madrid or RB Leipzig
Group G Borussia Dortmund
Group H Benfica or Paris Saint-Germain

Champions League results and fixtures

Tuesday 1 November Champions League results

• Bayer Leverkusen 0 Bruges 0

• Porto 2 Atletico Madrid 1

• Bayern Munich 2 Inter Milan 0

• Liverpool 2 Napoli 0

• Marseille 1 Tottenham 2

• Rangers 1 Ajax 3

• Sporting Lisbon 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 2

• Viktoria Plzen 2 Barcelona 4
  

Wednesday 2 November Champions League fixtures

• Real Madrid v Celtic 5.45pm

• Shakhtar Donetsk v RB Leipzig 5.45pm

• Chelsea v Dinamo Zagreb 8pm

• FC Copenhagen v Dortmund 8pm

• Juventus v PSG 8pm

• Maccabi Haifa v Benfica 8pm

• Man City v Sevilla 8pm

• AC Milan v RB Salzburg 8pm