Chelsea will look to make it two wins out of two when they face winless Panathinaikos in a UEFA Conference League match in Greece on Thursday. The Blues are one of several teams to have won their opening game of the competition and are very likely to win a second title even if coach Enzo Maresca rotates his squad through the league stages. Cole Palmer has been left out of the Conference League squad to manage his minutes, but there could be a handful of top players in the mix for this week’s European fixtures.
Here’s what you need to know before tuning:
How to watch and odds
- date: Thursday, October 24 | hour: 12:45 PM ET
- location: Athens Olympic Stadium – Marusi, Greece
- see: Paramount+
- multiplication: Panathinaikos +490; Draw +320. Chelsea -180
Storyline
Despite Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool, there is plenty of room for optimism at Chelsea as Enzo Maresca is settling in well to his new job. They have won four of their first eight Premier League games to move closer to a top-four finish and are second on the league scoring list. Cole Palmer’s six goals play a big part in his Premier League tally, but he is not the only one enjoying a strong start to the season.
Maresca rotates the squad on Thursday and will be hoping for a strong result to mirror their 4-2 win on Matchday 1 against Ghent. Chelsea had four goalscorers – Renato Veiga, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – and although faltering defensively, that performance is likely to serve as a model for Thursday’s trip to Panathinaikos .
Expected Lineup
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Veiga, Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall, Neto, Felix, Mudryk, Nkunku
prediction
Maresca will be understandably confident that his replacement will be able to get the job done on Thursday, so expect a comfortable win for Chelsea as they begin to move out of contention in the Conference League. Select: Panathinaikos 1, Chelsea 4
