Chelsea eye two wins out of two in UEFA Conference League play on Thursday when they face a winless Panathinaikos in Greece. The Blues are one of several teams to win their opening game of the competition and will be heavily favored to pick up a second, even though manager Enzo Maresca will be working with a rotated squad for the league phase. Cole Palmer was omitted from the Conference League squad to manage his minutes, though a handful of their top players could be in the mix in European play this week.
Here’s what you need to know before tuning in.
How to watch and odds
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 24 | Time: 12:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Athens Olympic Stadium — Marousi, Greece
- Watch: Paramount+
- Odds: Panathinaikos +490; Draw +320; Chelsea -180
Storylines
Despite a 2-1 loss to Liverpool on Sunday, there’s plenty to be optimistic about at Chelsea as Enzo Maresca settles in nicely to his new job. They have four wins from their first eight games in the Premier League, within touching distance of a top-four spot and rank second in the league’s goalscoring charts. Though Cole Palmer’s six goals play a big part in their Premier League count, he is not the only one enjoying a strong start to the season.
Maresca will likely rotate through his team on Thursday and expect strong results in a performance that could reflect Matchday 1’s 4-2 win over Gent. Chelsea had four different goalscorers – Renato Veiga, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – during a dominant performance, and though they were defensively shaky, that game will likely be the model for Thursday’s trip to Panathinaikos.
Projected lineup
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Veiga, Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall, Neto, Felix, Mudryk, Nkunku
Prediction
Maresca will rightly bet that a rotated side can get the job done on Thursday, so expect a comfortable win for Chelsea as they begin to separate themselves from the competition in the Conference League. Pick: Panathinaikos 1, Chelsea 4
KVSP