Astana face Chelsea in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday evening
Chelsea face Astana in the Europa Conference League on Thursday afternoon, therefore now is an excellent time to check out the very latest Astana v Chelsea Conference League odds and free bet offers, which you can claim when registering with any of our featured UK betting sites using the links provided.
Astana v Chelsea Conference League Odds & Match Preview
Kick-off: 3.30pm UK Time, Thursday 12th December 2024
Chelsea are now assured of a last sixteen playoff berth at the very least in the 36-team Europa Conference League group standings, however midweek opponents Astana still have plenty of work to do.
Excellent start
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have enjoyed an excellent start to their 2024/25 UEFA Europa Conference League campaign with four wins from four outings against Gent, Panathanaikos, FC Noah and Heidenheim by an aggregate scoreline of 18-3. Unlike the Europa League and Champions League where eight matches are played in the league stages, the teams in the Europa Conference League need only play six fixtures in this phase of the tournament. Current leaders Chelsea can effectively guarantee themselves a top eight finish should they get the better of Astana in their penultimate league-stage match on Thursday evening. Indeed, the Blues will be very confident of success here, given that they have followed up a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup with an eight-match unbeaten run, with wins in each of their last five and an aggregate scoreline of 16-5 during this winning run.
Underdogs
This is the second season in succession that Astana have appeared in this competition and while they opened their account with a 1-0 victory over Topola in October, they have struggled to build on this with just a single point collected from their last three in the tournament. Manager Grigori Babayan has acknowledged that the “excitement is crazy” in the lead-up to the visit of Chelsea on Thursday evening and while the hosts are understandably underdogs for this one, there’s reason for the home fans to be optimistic.
Quality in the ranks
Astana will look to impress in front of their own home fans and frustrate the Premier League outfit, however Chelsea have more than enough quality in the ranks to get the job done here, even in the event that Maresca makes a few changes and gives some of his younger players a chance to shine in this penultimate league-stage outing.
Back Chelsea to win 2-0 at best odds of 13/2
