Chelsea kick-start their maiden Europa Conference League campaign on Thursday night when they play host to Servette in the first leg of their playoff tie at Stamford Bridge.
The winners of this two-legged tie will qualify for the newly-expanded 36-team Conference League, while the losers will be eliminated from Europe altogether.
Match preview
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After a season away from Europe, Chelsea have sneaked back into UEFA competition this term courtesy of a five-game winning run in their final five fixtures of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign under former boss Mauricio Pochettino.
The Blues eventually finished sixth in the English top flight and would have qualified for the Europa League proper had Manchester United not won the FA Cup and bumped them down to the third tier of continental football.
Now under the tutelage of Enzo Maresca, Chelsea began the new Premier League season with a 2-0 home defeat to perennial winners Manchester City on Sunday, with goals either side of half time from Erling Haaland and ex-Blues midfielder Mateo Kovacic securing maximum points for Pep Guardiola's men.
Despite the defeat, Maresca was pleased with his side's performance, saying that his players "competed for large parts at the same level and in some moments were even better" than Man City, and the Italian has 'no doubts' that Chelsea are heading in the right direction.
While Todd Boehly and co continue their wheeling and dealing off the pitch, with Joao Felix becoming their 10th summer signing on Wednesday, Maresca is preparing his players for Thursday's meeting with Servette, and the expectation from all Chelsea supporters is to see their side secure safe passage through to the Conference League.
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Servette qualified for the Europa League for the first time in their history last season, but they failed to progress beyond the group stage and dropped down into the Conference League, where they were eventually beaten by Viktoria Plzen in the last 16.
Courtesy of a third-placed finish in the Swiss Super League as well as winning the Swiss Cup in 2023-24, the Maroons entered the third qualifying round of the Europa League earlier this month, but they were narrowly beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Braga, setting up their Conference League playoff tie with Chelsea.
Their second-leg defeat on home soil against Braga took place just four days after they suffered a humbling 6-0 home defeat to Basel in the Swiss Super League, but they have since returned to winning ways on the domestic front in emphatic fashion, thrashing fifth-tier outfit Signal 7-1 in the first round of the Swiss Cup on Sunday.
Former Estonia boss Thomas Haberli has won three of his first six games in charge of Servette since taking the reins in July, and the 50-year-old is hoping that his side will 'give everything' against Chelsea as they did in their two-legged encounter with Braga.
Servette travel to Stamford Bridge having won just four of their last 12 competitive away matches and have only previously come up against two English teams in European competition, firstly losing 3-2 on aggregate to Liverpool in the 1971-72 Cup Winners' Cup, despite winning the first leg 2-1, before losing 6-2 on aggregate to Derby Country three years later in the UEFA Cup.
Team News
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Thursday's game will come too soon for Chelsea captain Reece James as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury, while Marc Cucurella is a minor doubt after coming off in the closing stages of the defeat to Man City with an apparent knee problem.
However, both James and Cucurella have been included in Chelsea's 22-man 'A' list squad to face Servette, while Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling are three notable omissions, the latter two were also absent against Man City and are facing uncertain futures at Stamford Bridge. New signing Joao Felix, meanwhile, will also not be involved.
Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Pedro Neto and Marc Guiu are five summer signings who could be handed their first starts for the club, while the likes of Benoit Badiashile, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Noni Madueke will also be looking to force their way into the first XI.
As for Servette, Haberli made wholesale changes for last weekend's thumping Swiss Cup victory and with no fresh injuries to report, he is expected to revert back to his strongest starting lineup.
Dereck Kutesa started and scored against Signal last time out, but it remains to be seen whether he will be involved on Thursday; Kutesa missed the previous match versus Braga through illness according to Haberli, but that was denied by the player's agent, who confirmed that the Saudi-linked winger has received offers to leave the club.
First-team regulars including Steve Rouiller, David Douline, Gael Ondoua, Alexis Antunes and Enzo Crivelli are all expected to start, the latter two are the most likely duo to link up in attack.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; Gusto, Tosin, Badiashile, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Palmer, Dewsbury-Hall, Neto; Guiu
Servette possible starting lineup:
Frick; Tsunemoto, Rouiller, Severin, Mazikou; Douline, Ondoua; Stevanovic, Antunes, Kutesa; Crivelli
We say: Chelsea 3-0 Servette
Marasca will view Thursday's fixture as a good opportunity to open his account as Chelsea manager, and while the Blues cannot write Servette off entirely, they will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top at Stamford Bridge, even if several changes are made to their starting lineup.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
