Astana v Chelsea LIVE: Conference League group information and line-ups with Blues starlet handed full debut
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Chelsea travel to Kazakhstan in the Conference League to play Astana in a gruelling midweek trip.
The Blues have taken a young squad with many highly-rated talents set for a debut in the freezing conditions of Almaty.
Enzo Maresca will hope to maintain the good form following a thrilling comeback victory at Tottenham on Sunday, with Cole Palmer thriving, before turning attention back to league matters and a Sunday evening kick-off against Brentford.
Chelsea are top of the Conference League, level with Legia Warszawa, with just two games remaining against Astana and Shamrock Rovers back at Stamford Bridge on 19 December.
Follow all the latest build-up to the early kick-off in the Conference League in our live blog below:
Astana vs Chelsea
Starts for Josh Acheampong, Tyrique George and Samuel Rak-Sakyi in Astana.
Astana vs Chelsea
Chelsea team to play Astana:
Jorgensen, Disasi, Tosin, Neto, Chukwemaka, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Veiga, Rak-Sakyi
Astana vs Chelsea
A third-successive away victory would record Chelsea’s best return in Europe since five wins on the road in a row on the way to winning the Champions League in 2020/21.
Will Mudryk impress?
Mykhailo Mudryk has hit three goals and matched that with assists in the Conference League this term, but he was ill at the weekend and missed the win over Tottenham.
Chelsea’s consistency
Chelsea have started six players in every Conference League game with those being: Jorgensen, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Renato Veiga, Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku.
The latter has scored in each of his starts in this competition (7 goals, 2 assists).
Jadon Sancho is turning into one of the signings of the season under Enzo Maresca’s care at Chelsea
Derby day provided a timely reminder of a certain talent that resides within Chelsea’s attacking ranks.
As “Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again” rang out from the away end, Enzo Maresca revelled in his biggest win yet as Chelsea boss, which propelled his side to second in the league and extended their unbeaten run to eight in all competitions.
Chelsea’s travelling squad for Astana
Goalkeepers: Filip Jorgensen, Lucas Bergstrom, Max Merrick
Defenders: Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Renato Veiga, Josh Acheampong, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Richard Olise, Kaiden Wilson
Midfielders: Carney Chukwuemeka, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Kiano Dyer, Sam Rak-Sakyi, Harvey Vale
Forwards: Pedro Neto, Ato Ampah, Tyrique George, Marc Guiu, Shumaira Mheuka
Chelsea hoping to keep 100% record intact
Chelsea hope to keep their 100 per cent record in the Conference League phase intact.
Legia Warsaw are the only other team to have won four from four and a victory over Astana secure a place in the Round of 16 for the Blues.
Astana vs Chelsea
This is the first-ever match between Chelsea and any club from Kazakhstan. Astana’s only match-up with English opponents, meanwhile, came in the 2019 Europa League group stage against Manchester United.
They lost 1-0 at Old Trafford but came from behind on their own 4G pitch to beat a very young Red Devils side 2-1.
An eight-hour flight for Chelsea
According to club historians, never before have Chelsea travelled so far to play in a European competition.
An eight-hour direct flight from London, the fixture is 1,000 miles further east than Baku, where they triumphed in a resounding 2019 Europa League final victory over Arsenal.
