Chelsea conclude the Europa Convention League league stage with the visit of Shamrock Rovers on Thursday night.
The Blues have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition following last week’s 3-1 win over Kazakh side Astana, but will be eager to maintain their perfect record in the league stage and finish in first place on Thursday .
Chelsea are the only team to have won all five of their league matches and have done so at a canter despite making radical changes to their starting lineup in each outing. Enzo Maresca will present a much changed ace on Thursday in what should be an eighth consecutive victory in all competitions.
The Irish team Shamrock Rovers remains undefeated in the league stage, but will only be able to guarantee direct passage to the last 16 if they win on Thursday. However, after three wins and two draws, they are assured of a place in the play-offs.
here it is 90 minutes Guide to Chelsea’s last European match of the year.
Chelsea vs Shamrock Rovers Registro H2H
This is the first competitive meeting between Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Chelsea |
Clover Rovers |
|---|---|
|
Chelsea 2-1 Brentford – 15/12/25 |
Shamrock Rovers 3-0 Borac Banja Luka – 12/12/24 |
|
Astana 1-3 Chelsea – 12/12/24 |
Fast Viena 1-1 Shamrock Rovers – 28/11/24 |
|
Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea – 12/08/24 |
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 TNS – 11/07/24 |
|
Southampton 1-5 Chelsea – 12/04/24 |
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Waterford – 11/01/24 |
|
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa – 12/01/24 |
Dundalk 0-1 Shamrock Rovers – 27/10/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
TNT Sports activities 1 application, TNT Sports activities Final, discovery+, discovery+ |
|
USA |
Paramount+, ViX |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
Mykhailo Mudryk will not be present in Thursday’s duel after recently testing positive in an anti-doping test. The Ukrainian, who has been a regular in the Convention League, has been provisionally suspended from football and could receive a long sanction.
Wesley Fofana and Reece James remain sidelined with hamstring injuries, although the former is not included in Chelsea’s league phase squad. That also goes for Cole Palmer, who will rest during the week.
Benoit Badiashile missed the weekend’s win due to injury and Maresca is yet to clarify how long he will be out for, while Marc Cucurella is available on Thursday despite receiving a red card against Brentford. He will miss Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Everton next weekend.
Many of those who started in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Brentford on Sunday will not feature against Shamrock Rovers. Maresca is likely to rotate much of his starting lineup and once again give opportunities to fringe and young players.
Chelsea vs Shamrock Rovers Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Disasi, Cucurella; Casadei, Dewsbury-Corridor; George, Nkunku, Felix; Guy.
Shamrock Rovers finished their league season at the beginning of November and suffered disappointment on the final day as Shelbourne beat them to the title. However, they haven’t let rust affect their European performances, with two wins and a draw in the Convention League since then.
Chelsea will be a completely different proposition for Stephen Bradley’s side and they will be the big underdogs on Thursday. However, they have a couple of players who could cause the Blues problems, including 21-year-old star forward Johnny Kenny, who has scored five goals in as many league games.
Shamrock Rovers vs Chelsea Predicted Lineup (3-5-2): Pohls; Cleary, Lopes, Gracia; Honohan, O’Neil, Poom, Watts, Burns; Farrugia, Kenny.
Chelsea have made it through the league stage and should have no problem maintaining their perfect record on Thursday night. Rovers have proven to be a tough team for some of the competition’s lesser entrants, but a trip to Stamford Bridge should prove too daunting.
The Blues will make radical changes to their starting lineup, but some first-team players are likely to be dropped to keep them fresh. That could spell trouble for Rovers, who have played just a handful of games in the last two months.
