Chelsea will be looking to make it two wins from two in the 2024-25 Conference League when they travel to Greece to face Panathinaikos at Olympiako Stadio Spyros Louis on Thursday evening.
While the Blues beat Gent 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in their opening fixture of the league phase three weeks ago, the Greens played out a 1-1 draw with Bosnian outfit Borac Banja Luka.
Match preview
After accumulating 14 points during a six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League between the end of August and beginning of October, Chelsea came away from Anfield empty handed last weekend after they were beaten 2-1 by league leaders Liverpool.
Nicolas Jackson equalised for Chelsea early in the second half to cancel out Mohamed Salah's first-half penalty, but Liverpool needed only three minutes to restore their lead, with Curtis Jones netting what proved to be the decisive goal to condemn the Blues to their first away league loss of the campaign.
Nevertheless, head coach Enzo Maresca was satisfied with many aspects of his team's performance, labelled by the Italian as "one of the best of the season", and he has insisted that his group of players are heading in the "right direction".
Sitting sixth in the Premier League table and only three points behind the top four, Chelsea will soon prepare for fixtures against Newcastle United and Manchester United, but they must first shift their focus back to the Conference League and to their first-ever meeting with Panathinaikos.
Chelsea have never lost against Greek opposition in European competition, winning four times and drawing twice, although those two draws were played out on Greek soil - a goalless stalemate with Olympiacos in the last 16 of the 2007-08 Champions League and a 1-1 draw with Aris Thessaloniki in the 1970-71 Cup Winners' Cup.
Panathinaikos ended a three-game winless run by beating OFI 1-0 away from home in the Greek Super League last weekend - their first match since the tragic passing of George Baldock at the age of just 31 earlier this month.
An emotional, hard-fought victory dedicated to Baldock was secured courtesy of a sixth-minute strike from Brazilian winger Tete, and a third top-flight win of the season for the Greens has seen them leapfrog OFI into sixth place in the table, now sitting five points behind joint-leaders Aris Thessaloniki and PAOK after eight games.
Diego Alonso's side are sure to have one eye on their next league fixture at home against Aris on Sunday, but they must first turn their attention to a tricky midweek Europa League clash with Chelsea, arguably their toughest opponent in the league phase of this season's competition.
Panathinaikos will welcome playing Thursday's contest in front of their own supporters, as they have only lost five of their 23 designated home matches in 2024 and have put together a four-game unbeaten run at Olympiako Stadio Spyros Louis, most recently drawing 0-0 with reigning Conference League champions Olympiacos in the Greek Super League just over three weeks ago.
However, their record against English opposition leaves little to be desired, as they have won just one of their previous 18 such meetings in European competition, drawing six and losing 11. The last English club they faced were Tottenham Hotspur, losing 3-1 on the road in the 2012-13 Europa League group stage, although they did hold Spurs to a 1-1 home draw two months prior to that.
Team News
Panathinaikos will have to cope without captain Fotis Ioannidis (adductor) injury, while Dimitris Limnios, Zeca and Tonny Vilhena are all ineligible as they have all been left out of the club's Conference League squad.
Andraz Sporar is doubtful after missing last weekend's win against OFI due to illness, so Alexander Jeremejeff could lead the line, with former Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri, Anastasios Bakasetas and Filip Duricic providing support in attack.
Polish goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski is expected to start between the sticks and could be protected by a back four of Giannis Kotsiras, Tin Jedvaj, Sverrir Ingi Ingason and Filip Mladenovic, while Adam Gnezda Cerin could be joined in centre-midfield by Nemanja Maksimovic, Willian Arao or Azzedine Ounahi.
As for Chelsea, Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana will not be involved as they have all been left out of the club's squad for the Conference League, while goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is hoping to recover from a head injury in time to feature on Thursday and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Maresca is set to manage the minutes of captain Reece James, who started against Liverpool fo the first time this season after a lengthy spell out injured. Either Axel Disasi or Malo Gusto could start at right-back in place of the Englishman.
Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku were both on the scoresheet in Chelsea's win over Gent and they could both return to the starting lineup on Thursday, with Joao Felix and Mykhaylo Mudryk also in contention to play in attack, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Cesare Casadei will be pushing to start in midfield.
Panathinaikos possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Kotsiras, Jedvaj, Ingason, Mladenovic; Maksimovic, Cerin; Pellistri, Bakasetas, Duricic; Jeremejeff
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; Disasi, Tosin, Badiashile, Veiga; Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku
We say: Panathinaikos 1-3 Chelsea
Chelsea will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top in Thursday's fixture, even with Maresca expected to ring the changes. Panathinaikos cannot be taken lightly by the West Londoners, but we still expect the Premier League side to prevail in Greece.
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