Chelsea conclude the league phase of the Europa Conference League with a visit from Shamrock Rovers on Thursday evening.
The Blues have already qualified for the last 16 of the competition following last week’s 3-1 win over Kazakhstani outfit Astana, but they will be eager to maintain their perfect league phase record and finish in top spot on Thursday.
Chelsea are the only side to have won all five of their league phase encounters and have done so at a canter despite making sweeping changes to their starting lineup in each outing. Enzo Maresca will field a much-changed XI on Thursday in what should be an eighth successive victory in all competitions.
Irish side Shamrock Rovers remain unbeaten in the league phase but can only guarantee direct passage to the last 16 with victory on Thursday. They are certain of a place in the play-offs, however, following three wins and two draws.
Mykhailo Mudryk will be missing for Thursday’s duel after recently failing a drugs test. The Ukrainian, who has been a regular in the Conference League, has been provisionally suspended from football and could receive a lengthy ban.
Wesley Fofana and Reece James are both still missing with hamstring injuries, although the former is not included in Chelsea’s league phase squad. That also applies to Cole Palmer, who will earn a rest midweek.
Benoit Badiashile missed the weekend win due to injury and Maresca is yet to clarify how long he will be sidelined for, while Marc Cucurella is available on Thursday despite receiving a red card against Brentford. He will miss Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Everton next weekend.
Plenty of those who started Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Brentford on Sunday will not feature against Shamrock Rovers. Maresca is likely to rotate much of his starting XI and once again hand opportunities to fringe and young players.
Shamrock Rovers finished their league season in early November and suffered disappointment on the final day as Shelbourne beat them to the title. However, they haven’t allowed any rustiness to impact their European performances, with two victories and a draw in the Conference League since then.
Chelsea will be an entirely different proposition for Stephen Bradley’s side and they will be enormous underdogs on Thursday. They do have a couple of players that could cause problems for the Blues, however, including star 21-year-old striker Johnny Kenny who has scored five in as many league phase matches.
