Chelsea face FC Noah in the UEFA Convention League at Stamford Bridge on Thursday and Enzo Maresca’s hosts have two wins from two games so far. This is a great success for Armenian visitors and possibly the biggest setback in their budding history. For the Blues, Noah would be the lowest ranked team they will face in this section of the European third division league competition. Heidenheim are debutants, but they play games in the Bundesliga and the trip to Astana in Kazakhstan has transformed more and more regular teams into continental teams of the past.
Maresca is likely to rotate Chelsea’s Premier League XI given the roster differences, so don’t expect the same team that drew 1-1 with Manchester United to come home here. Plus, with Arsenal going up this weekend, the Blues’ key men will be reserved for that now that the Gunners are behind them in the EPL standings. With this in mind, the peripheral figures should be very close to this for the appearance of the house.
Noah has been runner-up in the future final of the Armenian top flight and now faces the two-time Champions League winners in a dream showdown. With four consecutive wins at local level, they are in very good shape despite the big jump in standards between local and continental action. Vikingur and APOEL at home are much more likely to be focused on winning, which could ensure them a rivalry for a sudden place in the knockout round.
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- Week: Thursday, November 7 | Moment: 3 pm eastern time
- Location: Stamford Bridge – London, England
- Supervise: Supreme+
- Odd: Chelsea-5000; Draw +1400; Noah +3500
League section so far
Chelsea have beaten Gent and Panathinaikos so far and Maresca’s men have scored four goals in either of those victories to take the lead thanks to their merit in the rest of the goals. Although there are more than 10 games left until the possible final, the Blues are big favorites to reach Wroclaw and could become the first club to win all four of UEFA’s main competitions, including the defunct Club Cup Winners’ Cup. Noah is the youngest tournament in Europe this season and surprised many by advancing from the first qualifying round to this level. Noah fell at the first hurdle twice in the past, but beat Shkendija home and away in the first round and thrashed Sliema Wanderers 7-0 in the first round. Noah surprised Greek giant AEK Athens with a combination and then won at home 3-1 and beat Ruzomberok in the playoffs. The away strategy is questionable with only one draw between Malta and Sliema and three consecutive defeats since. A victory over Mlada Boleslav was old and has them in a knockout round park for now.
Crew information
Chelsea: Cole Palmer suffered a knock to his knee, but is not in Chelsea’s Ecu squad, so he will rest against Arsenal this weekend. Pedro Neto’s cup strategy has taken him to the Premier League XI. You can make a backup to catch up on the condition.
Imaginable Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; Renato Veiga, Disasi, Badiashile, Cucurella; Enzo, Dewsbury Corridor; Sancho, Joao Félix, Mudryk; Nkunku.
Noah: Gudmundur Thorarinsson and Martin Gambos are injured. Gonçalo Gregorio will likely concentrate on a formation position given his somewhat familiar method of scoring. Goalkeeper Ognjen Cancarevic was a heroic goalscorer against AEK and could be a key figure in this game as Chelsea are expected to score a sufficient number of points.
Imaginable Noah XI: Cancarevic; Mendoza, Gonçalo Silva, Muradyan, Hambardzumyan; Eteki, Oulad Omar, Sangaré; Helder Ferreira, Gonçalo Gregorio, Pinson.
Prediction
This should be an easy plethora for Chelsea and Noah would do well to score and avoid a bulky final result, so a three-goal winning margin sounds good. Select: Chelsea 4, Noah 1.
