Preview: Chelsea vs. FC Noah – prediction, team news, lineups

Conference League favourites Chelsea welcome competition debutants FC Noah to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.

In a momentous occasion for the young Armenian club, this will be their first trip to England, but they will be up against it against a Chelsea side that has looked imperious on the continent so far.

Match preview

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In the first two matchdays of this competition, Chelsea faced two clubs with real ambition of going far in Europe this season, and dispatched them both comfortably, as Gent and Panathinaikos were swept aside with little fuss.

Enzo Maresca‘s makeshift cup side netted four goals in both of those wins, meaning it is no surprise that out of the nine teams to have won their opening Conference League games, they have the best goal difference, and sit top.

Despite the final in Wroclaw being at least 11 games away, Chelsea are almost odds on with the bookmakers to win the competition this season, and become the first to win all four of UEFA’s major club competitions – also including the defunct Club Winners’ Cup.

Chelsea’s next opponents will be the lowest-ranked of any they will face in the league phase, and a stress-free evening is expected before two awkward away trips to come.

Heidenheim are debutants but continue to be competitive in the Bundesliga, while the long trek to freezing-cold Astana in Kazakhstan in the middle of December will be an unwanted one for Maresca.

As has been the case in all of Chelsea’s cup games so far, the team that will take to the field here will be very different from the one that drew 1-1 at Old Trafford against Manchester United on Sunday.

With a clash against London rivals Arsenal to come at the weekend, all of the Blues’ key players will be kept fresh for that, as they seek to extend their lead over the Gunners to three points with a win, which would also keep them in the Premier League’s top four.

For last season’s Armenian Premier League runners-up, this is the fixture they all dreamed of before the draw was made in August, and they will now get the opportunity to face the two-time Champions League winners.

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Only founded in 2017 and named after the biblical figure, Noah are the youngest team competing in Europe this season, stunning everyone to become the first club to progress from the first qualifying round to this stage of the Conference League in its albeit brief history.

Two previous forays into Europe saw Noah fall at the first hurdle, but after beating Shkendija home and away in round one and thrashing Sliema Wanderers 7-0 in the following round, belief grew.

Noah were then huge underdogs against Greek giants AEK Athens, but after a stunning 3-1 win at home, Rui Mota‘s side miraculously hung on to progress on aggregate, before repeating the trick against Ruzomberok in the playoffs.

Away form is a concern on the continent though, as they only drew in Malta against Sliema and have lost three in a row since, including their matchday two trip to Rapid Vienna.

The opening day win over Mlada Boleslav was an historic night though, and means they remain in the qualifying places heading into matchday three.

Four straight wins domestically with 14 goals scored means they are in a confident mood at present, but there will be an admission that this trip to London will almost certainly end in defeat, with upcoming home games against Vikingur and APOEL likely to be targeted to get them over the line for an unlikely knockout progression.

Chelsea Conference League form:

Chelsea form (all competitions):

FC Noah Conference League form:

FC Noah form (all competitions):

Team News

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Eleven changes are on the cards once again for Chelsea in a cup competition, and given the level of opposition, Maresca could even provide some youngsters with more minutes.

Cole Palmer has a slight issue with his knee after the rash challenge on him by Lisandro Martinez at the weekend, but he is not in Chelsea’s European squad anyway, so will be able to rest up ahead of the visit of Arsenal at the weekend.

Pedro Neto‘s form in the cups has seen him move into the Premier League XI while Jadon Sancho has been recovering from illness, but after returning this week, the Man United loanee could start to build up his match fitness here.

For the visitors, left-back Gudmundur Thorarinsson was forced off early on against Rapid Vienna two weeks ago, and joins midfielder Martin Gambos on the sidelines at present.

Goncalo Gregorio will be pushing to return to their European XI after scoring against AEK and Ruzomberok in qualifying, and notching a further six in nine league games so far.

Goalkeeper Ognjen Cancarevic scored from his own penalty area in that win over AEK, but will likely be busy at his main job here, having already made six saves in both of Noah’s opening two league phase matches so far.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; Renato Veiga, Disasi, Badiashile, Cucurella; Enzo, Dewsbury-Hall; Sancho, Joao Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku

FC Noah possible starting lineup:
Cancarevic; Mendoza, Goncalo Silva, Muradyan, Hambardzumyan; Eteki, Oulad Omar, Sangare; Helder Ferreira, Goncalo Gregorio, Pinson

We say: Chelsea 3-0 FC Noah

There will not be many bigger mismatches in European competition this season than this one, but a thrashing is not a certainty, as Noah have proven themselves capable of competing and defending stoically.

Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet since beating League Two Barrow 5-0 nine games ago, but it is unlikely the Armenian minnows will lay a glove on the home side here, despite their promising start, and a routine win is on the cards.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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