CHELSEA lead the way in the UEFA Europa Conference League and will look to strengthen their position at the top as they face Kazakhstan side Astana, who are struggling to hold on to a play-off spot. The two meet on Thursday, December 12th at the Astana Arena.
How the bookies view it: Blues favourites for the win
Chelsea are the tournament outright favourites, and even on a long away midweek trip to Kazakhstan, they are heavy favourites in the match outright as well. The Blues are 3/10 to bank maximum points from the game, leaving the hosts out at a long price of 17/2 to pull off what would be a sizable upset.
Recent head-to-head: First Meeting
Chelsea and Astana FC will meet for the first time on Thursday night.
Players to watch: Is Nkunku the main threat for the Blues?
While he isn't getting the playing time he would like in the Premier League, Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku has had a fine season in front of goal, tallying twelve goals in all competitions. Seven of those have come in six appearances in the Conference League.
Joao Felix has also shone in the tournament with four goals in four appearances, and the other big attacking threat that has shown up in front of goal is Mykhailo Mudryk. The latter has scored some fine goals to help Chelsea's progress slide along in the tournament.
Astana have found the going tough in front of goal so far in the competition, netting twice only in their four matches played. They head into the game with a -2 goal difference in the UEFA Conference League.
Predicted Lineups
Astana's domestic season finished last month, so that has helped them at least stave off new injury worries, but hasn't helped with match fitness. Chelsea have a huge squad and boss Enzo Maresca usually changes things quite a bit, from league games. The Blues don't have Reece James, Cesare Casadei, Marcus Bettinelli and more available.
Astana: Condric; Bartolec, Kazukolovas, Kalaica, Vorogovskiy; Ebong, Amanovic; Tomasov, Gripshi, Camara; Geoffrey
Chelsea: Jorgensen; Acheampong, Disasi, Tosin, Veiga; Rak-Sakyi, Dewsbury-Hall; George, Nkunku, Felix; Guiu
Anything else catches the eye?
Astana, who were runners-up in their domestic league campaign, do have big home form. They are unbeaten in their last thirteen on home turf in all competitions, winning eleven of those. Astana won their opening match of this UEFA Conference League campaign, a 1-0 success over Backa Topola. Since then they have failed to build on it, losing to The New Saints and Pafos, before taking a point against Vitoria de Guimaraes in their last match, conceding the equaliser just a couple of minutes from full-time.
This is a huge home game for them, so expect to see plenty of early energy at least from the Kazakhstan outfit. But expect the Yellow and Blues to run out of steam the longer the game wears on, as living with such a high-profile, strong team as Chelsea is going to be tough.
Chelsea have won all of their UEFA Conference League matches so far and have a competition-high 18 goals to their name from four matches. The Blues have scored at least four goals in three of their four matches and are seeking what will be their third clean sheet in a row. The Blues are top of the standings and a win on Thursday will pretty much guarantee them an automatic place in the next round. Chelsea head into the game on an eight-match unbeaten streak of form across all competitions.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Astana and Chelsea will be played on Dec 12, 2024 and kick off at 15:30. Check below for our tipsters best Astana vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
In December 2020 we sadly 
