Chelsea continued their good recent form with a 3-1 win over Kazakh club FC Astana, despite Enzo Maresca announcing the changes for the Conference League clash.

Maresca made 10 changes to the starting XI that beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 on Sunday, with Axel Disasi and Pedro Neto the most experienced players who started the game in sub-zero temperatures in Astana.

Marc Guiu opened the scoring within 15 minutes after an excellent solo run from the right side of the artificial turf before passing Mukhamedjan Seysen.

Aleksandr Marochkin compounded his side’s problems shortly afterwards with an own goal from a powerful Neto cross, before Renato Veiga made it 3-0 with a simple header from a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall corner before half-time.

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Astana managed to score before half-time when striker Marin Tomasov showed good footwork and dribbled into the opposition penalty area before hitting the top left corner of Filip Jørgensen’s net.

Maresca had complained about the 16-hour return journey to Kazakhstan ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Brentford but will be grateful he did not need many of his experienced stars.

Chelsea have now automatically qualified for the round of 16 of the Conference League and sit second in the Premier League, four points behind Liverpool, who still have a game in hand.

Astana, who have performed brilliantly against their better-equipped opponents, are 24th in the 32-team rankings.