Chelsea concludes the Europa League stage with a visit to Shamrock Rovers on Thursday evening.
The Blues have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition after last week 3-1 win over Kazakhstani outfit AstanaBut they will be keen to maintain their perfect record in the league stage and finish in first place on Thursday.
Chelsea are the only team to have won all five of their matches in the league stage and have done so despite making sweeping changes to the starting lineup in each match. Enzo Maresca will field a much-changed line-up on Thursday in what should be an eighth successive win in all competitions.
Irish team Shamrock Rovers maintained their unbeaten record in the league stage, but they can only guarantee direct qualification to the round of 16 with a victory on Thursday. But they are certain of their place in the playoffs after three wins and two draws.
here 90 minutes Guide to ChelseaThe last European confrontation of the year.
Chelsea vs Shamrock Rovers H2H score
This is the first competitive match between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Chelsea |
Shamrock Rovers |
|---|---|
|
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford – 12/15/25 |
Shamrock Rovers 3-0 Borac Banja Luka – 12/12/24 |
|
Astana 1-3 Chelsea – 12/12/24 |
Rapid Vienna 1-1 Shamrock Rovers – 28/11/24 |
|
Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea – 12/08/24 |
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 TNS – 11/07/24 |
|
Southampton 1-5 Chelsea – 12/04/24 |
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Waterford – 11/01/24 |
|
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa – 12/01/24 |
Dundalk 0-1 Shamrock Rovers – 27/10/24 |
|
nation |
TV Channel/Live Broadcast |
|---|---|
|
UK |
TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate, Discovery+, Discovery+ App |
|
US |
Paramount+, Fix |
|
Canada |
DAZN CANADA |
Mykhailo Modric will miss Thursday's match after that He recently failed a drug test. The Ukrainian, who was a regular at Conference Leaguehas been temporarily suspended from playing football and could face a long ban.
Wesley Fofana and Reece James are still missing due to hamstring injuries, although the former is not included in Chelsea's squad for the league stage. That also applies to Cole Palmer, who will be rested midweek.
Benoit Badiashelli missed the weekend's win through injury, Maresca is yet to say how long he will be sidelined, while Mark Cucurella will be available on Thursday though. He received a red card against Brentford. He will miss Chelsea's Premier League match with Everton next weekend.
Many of those who started in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Brentford on Sunday will not feature against Shamrock Rovers. Maresca will likely rotate a lot of his key players and give opportunities again to fringe and young players.
Chelsea's expected lineup against Shamrock Rovers (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Acheampong, Adarabio, Disasi, Cucurella; Cassady, Dewsbury Hall; George, Nkunku, Felix; man.
Shamrock Rovers finished the league season in early November and suffered final day disappointment when Shelbourne beat them to the title. However, they did not let any rust affect their European performances, recording two wins and a draw in the Conference League since then.
Chelsea will be a completely different proposition for Steven Bradley's side and they will be huge underdogs on Thursday. However, they have a number of players who could cause the Blues problems, including 21-year-old star striker Jonny Kenny who has scored five goals in as many league stage matches.
Shamrock Rovers expected lineup against Chelsea (3-5-2): Buhls. Cleary, Lopez, Grace; Honohan, O'Neill, Bohm, Watts, Burns; Farrugia, Kenny.
Chelsea have qualified comfortably during the league stage and will have no problems maintaining their perfect record on Thursday evening. Rovers have proven to be a difficult team for some of the competition's lesser participants, but the trip to Stamford Bridge should be very daunting.
The Blues will make extensive changes to their starting lineup, but some first-team players are likely to earn breaks to keep them fresh. That could spell trouble for Rovers, who have played a handful of games over the past two months.
