Chelsea face Panathinaikos at the Olympic Stadium (not that one) in just under an hour, and the teams are in!
After some enforced changes at the weekend against Liverpool, the perfect A-Team and B-Team rotation has been broken, so there are some alterations to the usual Conference League lineup tonight.
In goal it’s Filip Jorgensen as you’d expect. With Robert Sanchez continuing to look a little dodgy, the Swede knows he’s got another important chance to impress here.
The back line seems to have Marc Cucurella at right back, Renato Veiga at left back and Axel Disasi with Benoit Badiashile in the middle. We expect Cucurella to come off pretty early in the game to keep him fresh for this Sunday.
In midfield, Enzo Fernandez starts after missing out against Liverpool. We also expect him to see a maximum of 60 minutes. Alongside him is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, with Joao Felix playing in Cole Palmer’s usual number 10 role.
The front line has Mykhailo Mudryk and Pedro Neto flanking Christopher Nkunku. The France star can’t be happy only starting these lesser games. Another goal tonight keeps the pressure on.
There are a few potential conclusions one can draw from this selection overall – does this mean Malo Gusto starts at left back on Sunday against Newcastle, with Reece James on the right, as we saw against Liverpool last week? Does this mean Jadon Sancho will keep his place, rather than Neto jumping back ahead of him in the pecking order?
Does Enzo now find himself out of the first team, with Romeo Lavia now Moises Caicedo’s main partner in the middle? We’re not quite sure, but there are a lot of things to think about now the usual order is disrupted.
Here are the full team line-ups for Panathinaikos vs Chelsea (kick off at 17:45 GMT)
CHELSEA:
Team news from Athens! 🚨🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/dXG9Gj3D2a
— Talk Chelsea (@talkchelsea) October 24, 2024
