Chelsea are one of the favourites to win the Europa Conference League and are strongly favoured to emerge victorious at home to Gent on Thursday.
The competition kicks off this week after a slight delay after the Champions League and Europa League were showcased midweek over the past fortnight.
Match Preview
Chelsea are on a run of four straight wins, having beat Bournemouth, West Ham and Brighton in the Premier League and Barrow in the League Cup.
In that run of wins, they have scored an impressive 13 goals.
They beat Brighton 4-2 at the weekend, with the magnificent Cole Palmer scoring all four goals.
Enzo Maresca made 11 changes to his starting XÍ for the League Cup win against Barrow and a similar level of rotation will happen here.
The likes of Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and Mykhaylo Mudryk will all likely be given starts.
Palmer isn’t even included in the squad for the Conference League.
Here’s how Chelsea lined up against Brighton.
Gent Recent Form
After nine matches in the Jupiler Pro League, Gent are in second four points behind rivals Genk in the top spot.
They have won three out of their last five games, defeating Mechelen, Club Brugge and Leuven but losing against Cercle Brugge and drawing against Antwerp.
Gent Injury News
Gent are missing Sven Kums, Andrew Hjulsager and Aime Omgba.
One notable player for the Belgian side is Andri Gudjohnsen, the son of former Chelsea legend Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Last Gent Lineup
Here’s how Gent lined up against Leuven.
Chelsea – Player To Watch
Christopher Nkunku has started just one of Chelsea’s last six games and that came in the cup against Barrow. In that one, he scored a hat-trick, and he’ll be looking for similar numbers here as the club’s cup centre-forward of choice.
Gent – Player To Watch
Winger Franck Surdez has an impressive five assists in seven starts in the Jupiler Pro League so far.
Chelsea vs Gent – Prediction
Chelsea’s squad is so vast that even when Maresca makes 11 changes the quality still remains…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/news/chelsea-vs-gent-prediction-the-blues-strong-favourites-at-stamford-bridge/5841
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-10-02 13:03:20
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