The Football Faithful
·7 de noviembre de 2024
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Yahoo sportsThe Football Faithful
·7 de noviembre de 2024
Chelsea take on FC Noah in the Europa Conference League this evening as the Blues look to maintain their perfect record in the competition.
Enzo Maresca’s side have maximum points from two games played and are the early leaders in the league phase. After beating Gent and Panathinaikos, the West Londoners next take on Armenian opposition. FC Noah are in European competition proper for the first time this season after upsetting AEK Athens in qualification.
The visitors, whose name derives from the biblical tale of Noah’s Ark, will take on an English side for the first time in a David vs Goliath clash at Stamford Bridge. Founded only in 2017 and with a squad value of around just £5.25m, it would be a mammoth upset if FC Noah were to take a result in London.
Enzo Maresca will rotate his team heavily for the clash with the Italian having almost exclusively fielded different sides in the Premier League and Europe this season.
Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia were all omitted from the squad for the league phase, while the likes of Moises Caicedo and Nicolas Jackson will be handed rest. With one eye on this weekend’s Premier League showdown with Arsenal, Maresca is likely to change his entire XI for the clash.
Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku will come into the side with Maresca admitting he feels ‘shame’ at not handing the pair more Premier League minutes.
“I feel shame for Christo Nkunku because in pre-season he was our best player,” Maresca told the press on Wednesday.
“We had to adapt players so we moved him to striker knowing that he isn’t a number 9. I feel shame about João, but not only about him. I would like to give him more minutes in the Premier League but we need balance. We cannot play with Joao, Cole and Nkunku.”
Chelsea predicted XI: Jörgensen; Disasi, Tosin, Badiashile, Cucurella; Veiga, Fernandez; Dewsbury-Hall, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku.
Chelsea host FC Noah in the Europa Conference League on Thursday 7th November 2025. Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is 20:00 GMT.
The match will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1, with coverage starting at 19:00 GMT. Subscribers can stream via the Discovery+ app.