Chelsea conclude the league phase of the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening with a visit to Shamrock Rovers.
The Blues have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition after last week 3-1 win against Kazakh team Astanabut they will be aiming to maintain their perfect record in the league stage and finish first on Thursday.
Chelsea are the only team to have won all five of their league games, despite extensive changes to their starting lineup at a canter in every game. Enzo Maresca will line up with a much-changed eleven on Thursday in what looks set to be an eighth consecutive win in all competitions.
Irish club Shamrock Rovers remain unbeaten in the league phase, but can only guarantee direct entry into the round of 16 with a win on Thursday. However, after three wins and two draws, they are guaranteed a place in the play-offs.
Here is 90 minutes Guide to Chelseais the last European meeting of the year.
Chelsea vs Shamrock Rovers H2H results
This is the first competitive game between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Chelsea |
Shamrock Rovers |
|---|---|
|
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford – 12/15/25 |
Shamrock Rovers 3-0 Borac Banja Luka – 12/12/24 |
|
Astana 1-3 Chelsea – 12/12/24 |
Rapid Vienna – Shamrock Rovers 1:1 – 11/28/24 |
|
Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea – 12/8/24 |
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 TNS – 07/11/24 |
|
Southampton 1-5 Chelsea – 12/04/24 |
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Waterford – 11/01/24 |
|
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa – 12/01/24 |
Dundalk 0-1 Shamrock Rovers – 27/10/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate, Discovery+, Discovery+ App |
|
United States |
Paramount+, ViX |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
Mykhailo Mudryk will miss Thursday’s duel recently failed a drug test. The Ukrainian who is a regular player in the Conference Leaguehas been provisionally suspended from football and could receive a longer ban.
Wesley Fofana and Reece James are still missing with hamstring injuries, although the former is not in Chelsea’s squad for the league phase. This also applies to Cole Palmer, who will take a break during the week.
Benoit Badiashile missed the weekend’s win through injury and Maresca is yet to clarify how long he will be sidelined, while Marc Cucurella will still be available on Thursday received a red card against Brentford. He will miss Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Everton next weekend.
Many players who started Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Brentford on Sunday will not feature against Shamrock Rovers. Maresca will likely rotate much of his starting XI and again give opportunities to fringe players and young players.
Predicted Chelsea line-up against Shamrock Rovers (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Disasi, Cucurella; Casadei, Dewsbury Hall; George, Nkunku, Felix; Guy.
Shamrock Rovers ended their league season in early November and suffered disappointment on the final day of the season when Shelbourne beat them for the title. However, they did not allow rust to affect their European performances, with two wins and a draw in the Conference League since then.
Chelsea will be a very different challenge for Stephen Bradley’s side and will be big underdogs on Thursday. However, they have a few players who could cause problems for the Blues, including 21-year-old star striker Johnny Kenny, who has scored five goals in as many league stage games.
Shamrock Rovers expected line-up against Chelsea (3-5-2): Pohls; Cleary, Lopes, Grace; Honohan, O’Neil, Poom, Watts, Burns; Farrugia, Kenny.
Chelsea have come through the league phase comfortably and should have no trouble maintaining their perfect record on Thursday evening. Rovers have proven a tough team for some of the competition’s smaller entrants but a trip to Stamford Bridge may prove too daunting.
The Blues will make sweeping changes to their starting XI, but some first-team players are likely to earn run-outs to keep them fresh. That could spell trouble for Rovers, who have only played a handful of games in the last two months.
