FC Heidenheim v Chelsea Tips: Back 4/1 Nkunku and Felix goals bet in Germany | OneFootball

UEFA Europa Conference League

Chelsea's Felix has become a Europa Conference League specialist

Ste Tudor backs Nkunku and Felix to both make their mark on a fairly comfortable night for the Blues.

Victory for visitors backed at 11/8

Top of the Conference League, a win in Germany will pretty much secure Chelsea's entry to the last 16 as a seeded team. Enzo Maresca therefore will be determined to get the job done at the Voith-Arena before he even thinks of delving even deeper into his enormous squad.

That means likely starts for the seven ever-presents so far in this competition, with Jorgensen in nets behind Disasi, Badiashile and the always impressive Renato Veiga. Tosin Adarabioyo will probably join them.

Up front meanwhile Nkunku, Felix and Mudryk - a trio who have contributed to Chelsea scoring every 16.8 minutes in this league phase to date - should all feature.

As for their opponents, FC Heidenheim were placed in Pot 2 so technically this will be the Blues' second toughest test at this stage of the competition.

The Germans have won all three of their Conference League fixtures but we must take into account the poor quality of two sides they have faced.

We must factor in too that Heidenheim are struggling in the Bundesliga, near the foot of the table and winless in six. In 45% of their league commitments they have conceded 3+ goals.

Nkunku and Felix at the double

Between them, Christopher Nkunku and Joao Felix have played just 361 minutes of Premier League football this term but it's a very different story in the Conference League. Both have started all three of Chelsea's league phase fixtures. They are important players who Maresca has come to rely on in Europe.

And boy have they not disappointed, notching eight goals combined as well as an assist for Nkunku. In their last away game in this competition - in Athens - Felix was sensational when pushed up alongside the French forward. Maresca may well go with a 4-2-2-2 set-up again here.

Individually, Nkunku is 11/10 to convert anytime and Felix 7/4. But given they both got on the score-sheet against Panathinaikos and Noah let's got for a hat-trick.

Dewsbury-Hall worth a shot

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was dropped for the Noah walkover, with Maresca opting for an attacking 4-1-4-1. The midfielder, however, played a key role in victories over Gent and Panathinaikos and should be in the reckoning again.

Which leads us to his propensity to have a dig, committing to five attempts on goal in those two contests, two of which were on target.

For Leicester last season, the 26-year-old averaged two shots per 90.

Broadening it out to Chelsea as a whole, only Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs have had more shots on target in the league while in Europe their output has been prolific.

Even if the stats are somewhat padded from their thrashing of Noah, it still amounts to 21.6 shots per 90, 10.6 on target per 90 from their three league phase outings.

Pieringer a big loss for hosts

Heidenheim were struggling an hour into their opening fixture this term. Away to St Pauli, a goalless stalemate was playing out, with chances in short supply.

That was until Marvin Pieringer came on, assisting just four minutes later to break the deadlock.It was a similar tale of reliance last weekend when the Albogeners raced into a shock 2-0 lead at Bayer Leverkusen. Again Pieringer was pivotal, assisting Niklas Dorsch for the opener.

When the 6ft 2 striker went off injured on 28 minutes - ruling him out for Thursday - Heidenheim lost their structure and belief and Leverkusen duly mounted a four-goal comeback.

"After the Pieringer injury, we just weren't present." That's how head coach Frank Schmidt described it post-match.

With seven goal involvements in 11 league outings, 2.4 shots per 90 and 2.5 aerials won per 90, the 25-year-old is a huge loss for the hosts. They tend to be blunt up front without him.

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