Football
Chelsea vs Gent Team News and Predicted Lineups Ahead Of Conference League Opener At Stamford Bridge
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
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Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side get their Conference League league phase campaign underway against Gent on Thursday, and we’ve got the latest in terms of team news and predicted lineups for the clash.
In-form Chelsea welcome Gent to Stamford Bridge in their UEFA Conference League league phase opener on Thursday evening, where they’ll be aiming to secure a fifth successive win across all competitions.
The Blues, who are unbeaten in their last five with four wins and a draw, come into this one off the back of an impressive 4-2 win over Brighton in the Premier League, which followed on from wins over Bournemouth, West Ham and Barrow.
Heading into continental action, the west Londoners occupy a lofty fourth place in the English top-flight table, just a point behind Manchester City and Arsenal in second and third, and only two points adrift of table-toppers Liverpool.
Good vibes on MD-1. 😎 pic.twitter.com/aQemkXxmHC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 2, 2024
Gent, meanwhile, are currently third in the Belgian Pro League and come into this one having lost just one of their last nine competitive outings. Wouter Vrancken’s side comfortably dispatched OH Leuven 3-0 last time out.
The one-time Belgian champions booked their spot in the league phase with wins over Vikingur Gøta, Silkeborg and Partizan Belgrade and are competing in Europe’s third-tier competition for a fourth consecutive season.
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea are favoured among the UK’s best football betting sites at around 1/7, while De Buffalo’s are rated at 16/1 to cause an upset in the English capital.
Chelsea Team News
The Blues will have to make do without star man Cole Palmer when Gent come to visit on Thursday, as the England international has not been selected in their Conference League league phase squad due to load management.
Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Ben Chilwell have also been omitted from Maresca’s squad, while Reece James remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Filip Jorgensen, who started both matches against Servette in the play-off round, should start in between the sticks, and the likes of Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Renato Veiga, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku have all been tipped to make the starting lineup.
Gent Team News
As for the visitors, veteran midfielder Sven Kums has been ruled out, and so has summer signing Aime Omgba, while Andrew Hjulsager is unlikely to feature having spent the last four months on the sidelines.
There could, and probably should, be starts for English youngsters Archie Brown and Max Dean at Stamford Bridge, with the latter netting in back-to-back starts in the Belgian Pro League.
Andri Gudjohnsen, son of former Blues striker Eidur, is also an option in attack for the visitors and could force his way into the lineup after scoring off the bench in the win over Leuven on Sunday.
Chelsea vs Gent Predicted Lineups
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Acheampong, Disasi, Badiashile, Renato Veiga; Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku
Gent (3-5-2): Roef; Mitrovic, Watanabe, Torunarigha; Fadiga, Ito, Delorge, Gandelman, Brown; Dean, Surdez