Our penultimate game in the “league phase” of our first and hopefully only UEFA Conference League season takes us to the furthest reaches of what UEFA defines as “Europe”, all the way to the eastern regions of Kazakhstan near the Chinese border.

It’s an 8-hour flight, “not a normal time” to travel to a game in the middle of a season, as Enzo Maresca put it, but luckily there’s not much to do at this game other than make our perfect Want to maintain balance sheet. (Also note the very early kick-off time.)

Chelsea are one of only two teams to have recorded four wins from four games so far, and that virtually guarantees us a place in the top eight and a place in the round of 16. And even if we lost our last two games, this one and the game against Shamrock Rovers next week, we would still qualify for the knockout rounds (just with an additional knockout round).

But hey, let’s play ball!

Date/Time: Thursday, December 12, 2024, 15:30 GMT; 10:30 a.m. EST; 9 PM IST
Venue: Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan (Astana’s home stadium in Astana is currently being renovated, so we’re playing four hours away in Almaty, “The Big Apple”).
Referee: Sven Jablonski (on the pitch); Pascal Müller (VAR)
Forecast: Icy cold, 10 degrees (C) below freezing

On TV: TNT Sports 2 (UK); none (USA); Sony TEN 2 (India); SuperSport MaXimo 1 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Discovery+ (UK); Paramount+ (U.S.); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now (NGA)

Photo by Milos Bicanski – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

Astana team news: Astana was only founded in 2009 but is well funded and (usually) based in the capital, so they quickly became the dominant force in the Kazakh Premier League, winning it seven times since 2014.

Last season they finished second to advance to the qualifying rounds of this competition, where they eliminated Milsami Orhei of Moldova, Corvinul Hunedoara of Romania and SK Brann of Norway to advance to the league stage. So far they have only taken four points from their first four games, but are still in the hunt for a place in the top 24. The four points come from their two home games, including a 1-1 draw against Vitória de Guimarães. The brilliantly named Charles Geoffrey leads the team in the points standings.

Astana’s league season actually ended last month (they finished second again); They have since won the League Cup and played the aforementioned game against Vitória. So you are well rested. Or already on vacation. In any case, they expect a party, a football festival. I have to keep moving to keep the blood flowing!

“December 12 is a big holiday for Kazakh fans (and) fans from all over the republic and neighboring countries will come to the game.”

“(Although) it has been more than a month since the end of the championship and two weeks have passed since our last game (…) we believe that Astana will play a worthy game against Chelsea and delight the fans with a beautiful game. “ .”

-Sayan Khamitzhanov, Chairman of Astana; Source: FC Astana via Google Translate

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea team news: The Blues have taken an absolutely basic squad with them to Almaty, with just eight first-team players in the 20-man squad, which also includes a handful of academy players who have not made a single senior appearance. They certainly won’t pass such a test in youth football!

Among those not traveling for reasons other than squad rotation and selection are João Félix and Mykhailo Mudryk, who are reportedly (still) struggling with injuries and illness respectively. Reece James and Wesley Fofana also remain out, while Roméo Lavia had a scare in the last game and was withdrawn at half-time – thankfully that appears to have been just a precautionary measure.

The 20-member squad consists of:

GOALKEEPER: Jörgensen, Bergström, Merrick
DEFENSE: Disasi, Tosin, Veiga, Acheampong, Murray-Campbell, Olise, Wilson
MIDFIELDER: Chukwuemeka, Dewsbury-Hall, Dyer, Rak-Sakyi, Vale
FORWARD: Neto, Ampah, George, Guiu, Mheuka

Previously: We have won five times in a row in all competitions and are unbeaten and scored seven times. We are scoring an average of over 4 goals per game in this league phase; Let’s keep it up!