Chelsea begin their Conference League league phase campaign on home soil as Belgian outfit Gent visit Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca endured a tricky start to his tenure in west London but the Italian’s side have found their groove in recent outings and head into Thursday’s game having won their previous four games in all competitions.
Last time out, the Blues dismantled a naive Brighton & Hove Albion side 4-2 thanks to a historic quartet of strikes from superstar Cole Palmer.
Chelsea’s Conference League journey began in the play-off round as they edged past Swiss side Servette. Their upcoming opponents, meanwhile, downed Vikingur, Silkeborg and Partizan Belgrade to make the league phase.
Gent have started the season positively and currently sit third in the Belgian Pro League through nine games. A seventh-place finish last season was enough for them to make the Conference League play-offs.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Gent (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Disasi, Tosin, Badiashile, Veiga; Lavia, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku.
