Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea lineup, starting 11 for Champions League Round of 16 first leg

Languishing down in ninth in the Premier League table, Chelsea are in desperate need of a refreshing result as they head abroad to begin Champions League knockout stage play.

The Blues travel to Germany to take on Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Round of 16 matchup, and the challenge will be difficult. Dortmund are third on the Bundesliga table, just three points back of leaders Bayern Munich. They’ve won seven in a row since returning from the World Cup break, and are pouring on the goals.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have struggled to find consistency and are dropping points at every turn, unable to put together a complete performance. The biggest issue has been the buildup of injuries across the squad, and while the group is slowly beginning to get healthy, there are still a host of key players missing from action.

Below are the projected lineups for both teams based on the latest news leading up to the match.

MORE: How to watch Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea in Champions League action across the globe

Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea lineups, team news

Chelsea boss Graham Potter will have to barrel through a good friend if he is to pick up a much-needed result for the Blues as Champions League play returns.

Their Bundesliga opponents are coached by Edin Terzic, who completed his coaching badges in the same class with Potter, and the two became friends.

Former Dortmund player Christian Pulisic is also set for a reunion with his old club, but he may need to wait until the return leg as he is currently recovering from an injury. Another former Dortmund player, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, was left off the Chelsea squad for the remainder of the Champions League.

Below are the projected starting lineups for both teams ahead of their match at Signal-Iduna Park on February 15.

Borussia Dortmund projected starting 11

Borussia Dortmund projected starting lineup (4-1-4-1): Kobel (GK) — Meunier, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro — Can — Adeyemi, Bellingham, Reus, Brandt — Haller.

• Out: Marius Wolf, Youssoufa Moukoko.
• Doubt: Abdoulaye Kamara.
• Suspended: None.

Dortmund sport a healthy squad for the most part, but do have a few role players missing.

Wide man Marius Wolf suffered a shoulder injury last week that rules him out for a month, while Youssoufa Moukoko and Abdoulaye Kamara picked up knocks over the weekend which could see them miss out. Moukoko’s injury will likely see Sebastien Haller start up front, having returned from his bout with testicular cancer.

Thomas Meunier has just returned from a muscle injury and it’s unclear whether he’ll be fit to start, while Mateu Morey has been out for most of the season with a knee injury. Gio Reyna started the weekend league match with Karim Adeyemi suspended for yellow card accumulation, but the latter should return here.

Chelsea projected starting 11

Chelsea projected starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Kepa (GK) — James, Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella — Mount, Fernandez — Mudryk, Felix, Ziyech — Havertz.

• Out: Christian Pulisic, N’Golo Kante, Denis Zakaria, Edouard Mendy.
• Doubt: Raheem Sterling, Mateo Kovacic, Wesley Fofana.
• Suspended: None.

Chelsea are slowly getting healthier as they push through their injury crisis into the second half of the season, but there’s still a lot of work to do.

Reece James has returned to game action, and a host of players have returned to training, including Christian Pulisic, Wesley Fofana, and Mateo Kovacic. A return for Raheem Sterling is possible, but he may be better suited for a bench role in his first match back from a knee injury.

N’Golo Kante and Denis Zakaria are close to returns as well, but have not yet finished their treatment plans, while goalkeeper Edouard Mendy remains sidelined with a broken finger. Graham Potter must decide to recall Mason Mount after sitting on the bench against West Ham over the weekend or stick with Ruben Loftus-Cheek in midfield.

Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea live stream, TV channel

Full details are below for Chelsea’s trip to Germany with fans advised to check with their local broadcasters for full details on coverage.

UK: The UEFA Champions League is carried by BT Sport’s TV and streaming platforms.

USA: Fans in the USA can stream every Champions League match in both English (Paramount+) and Spanish (UniMas, ViX and ViX+). When matches are selected for television broadcast on CBS (English) or Univision (Spanish), those same channels are streamed on fuboTV, which is available on a free trial for new users.

Australia: Watch every match of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League with all the action streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.

Canada: Every Champions League match in Canada can be streamed exclusively on DAZN.