The path to Chelsea’s redemption leads to Athens
By Filip Mishov
Recent Form
The Blues are travelling to the Greek capital in a bid to get back to winning ways and to reinstill some of the lost confidence within the squad over the past few weeks, which resulted in Sunday’s narrow 2-1 defeat at Liverpool. Enzo Maresca was criticized by some at the start of the month when the Italian coach said, “I really don’t think we can compete with City or Arsenal,” and now the list might include Liverpool too, as it became evident that Chelsea perhaps lack the experience and team cohesion of the sides who’s squads have been together for an extended period of time.
However, Chelsea are still the team with most chances created (26) in the Premier league and the learning curve is all part of the process for Maresca’s fledgling side. But they will face another difficult challenge in Athens tonight.
Chelsea have started their Conference League campaign in style by securing a win (4-2) against Gent at Stamford Bridge and after the club’s decision to leave Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer out of their European squad, the UECL matches can’t come soon enough for their fringe players. With that being said, Maresca has plenty of options to choose from, but given Panathinaikos’ passionate supporters and the inevitable hostile atmosphere at Olympiako Stadio Spyros Louis, the tactician is expected to mix things up in order to counter the surroundings.
Team news
After the vice-captain, Enzo Fernández missed out on a place in the starting XI over the weekend, the fiery Argentinean is expected to lead out the team in Athens with most of the other players like Mykhaylo Mudryk, Joao Félix and Christopher Nkunku desperately waiting for a chance to impress and earn a starting spot. The captain, Reece James is set for a rest after returning from long-term injury, but Robert Sánchez should keep his place between the posts given Filip Jörgensen‘s concussion issues.
Tough times for Panathinaikos
The Greek club have endured a turbulent start of the season both on and off the pitch with the football world recently rocked by the tragic passing of their defender, George Baldock.
Former Uruguay national team coach Diego Alonso has had a lot to contend with and the Green and Whites are currently sat in sixth place in the Greek Super League 1 ahead of this, their first-ever meeting with Chelsea. Last season’s top scorer Fotis Ioannidis is injured and will miss the clash, but the former Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri is among the forwards aiming to leave their mark on proceedings.
Predictions
Chelsea have been bragging about the so-called “positives to take” from their defeat at Anfield as the Blues dominated in shots, possession, passes and take-ons, among other stats, but the trip to Athens presents another test for the strength of their squad in depth. As for Panathinaikos, the Green and Whites boast an abysmal record against English opponents in European competition as they have recorded just a single win in 18 attempts, but that was against another London-based club (Arsenal) back in 2001.
Obviously, Maresca’s young guns are favourites to go far in the UEFA’s third-tier club competition and given the reputation of some of the players, Christopher Nkunku, for example, who has already shone in the Champions League, anything other than a victory in Greece will be looked on as a failure for the Blues.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from the Europa Conference League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.