Chelsea make the long trip to Kazakhstan on Thursday when they take on Astana in the Conference League.
The Blues will make big changes to their starting lineup in midweek as they travel over 6,000km and aim to maintain their perfect record in the league stage of the Conference League. Four matches yielded four wins and 18 goals as Enzo Maresca's side made a mockery of Europe's third most prestigious cup competition.
Confidence is high for Chelsea ahead of Thursday's confrontation. They have won all five of their matches since the November international break and closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points at the weekend when they knocked out Tottenham Hotspur. Win 4-3 Inspired by Cole Palmer, who will take a well-deserved rest in midweek.
Astana is currently playing its home matches in Almaty, 1,200 kilometers from the Kazakh capital, and has obtained only four points from its first matches. Without a win in three European matches, they should cause Chelsea some problems on Thursday.
here 90 minutes Astana vs Chelsea.
Astana vs Chelsea H2H score
This is the first competitive match between Astana and Chelsea.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Astana |
Chelsea |
|---|---|
|
Astana 1-1 Vitoria Guimaraes – November 28, 2024 |
Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea – 12/08/24 |
|
Astana 5-0 Zeitso Taldykorgan – 11/10/24 |
Southampton 1-5 Chelsea – 12/04/24 |
|
Paphos 1-0 Astana – 07/11/24 |
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa – 12/01/24 |
|
Tobol Kostanay 1-0 Astana – 11/03/24 |
Heidenheim 0-2 Chelsea – 11/28/24 |
|
Astana 3-2 Atyrau – 10/30/24 |
Leicester 1-2 Chelsea – 11/23/24 |
|
nation |
TV Channel/Live Broadcast |
|---|---|
|
UK |
TNT Sports 2, Discovery+, Discovery+ App |
|
US |
Paramount+, Fix |
|
Canada |
DAZN CANADA |
The 2024 Kazakh Premier League season ended in early November, with Astana only finishing second, meaning Grigori Babayan's side will either be comfortable or rusty when they visit Chelsea on Thursday.
Astana have struggled for goals in the Conference League and are unlikely to trouble Chelsea too much. However, Nigerian striker Geoffrey Chinedu is the player to watch out for on Thursday, with the 27-year-old having scored 12 goals in 18 appearances for the club since joining in the summer.
Astana's expected lineup against Chelsea (4-2-3-1):Kendrick; Bartolek, Kazokolovas, Kalaika, Vorogovsky; Amanovich, Ebong; Tomasov, Grebchi, Kamara; Chinedu.
Maresca will take a group of young academy players to Kazakhstan on Thursday, and may leave some of the bigger names behind. A host of talent have been added to Chelsea's Conference League squad on UEFA's website, including Richard Olise, brother of Bayern Munich star Michael.
In terms of injuries, Chelsea will be without Reece James and Wesley Fofana due to hamstring problems – the latter of whom was not included in the Conference League squad anyway. Mykhailo Modric has also been suffering from illness in recent matches and may be sidelined.
Midfielder Cesar Casadei, who would have been useful for such a match, is unavailable through suspension after being sent off in the 2-0 win over Heidenheim.
Chelsea's expected lineup against Astana (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen. Olise, Disascia, Adarabio, Vega; brother-in-law of Dewsbury Hall; George, Chukwuemeka, Felix; guide.
Even Chelsea's young and much-changed squad will have little trouble beating Astana comfortably, especially since there are likely to be a number of senior players involved. The Kazakh side have not competed for two weeks and they will pray that their opponents' jet lag gives them a glimmer of hope in one of the biggest matches in their history.
However, Chelsea have managed to beat some of Europe's smaller teams during their Conference League run so far, and are likely to make it five in a row in the league stage without much fanfare.
