Chelsea vs. FC Noah: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Favorites of the Conference League On Thursday, Stamford Bridge will host FC Noah, a team making its competitive debut.

The fledgling Armenian team is making a historic journey to England, but they'll face a formidable opponent in Chelsea, who have been dominant on the continent.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Chelsea easily eliminated Gent and Panathinaikos, two teams with serious European aspirations this season, in the first two matchdays of this tournament.

With four goals scored in each of those victories, Enzo Maresca's temporary cup squad naturally has the most significant goal differential. It is in first place among the nine clubs who have won their first Conference League games.

Chelsea is almost the betting favorite to win the league this season and become the first team to win all four of UEFA's main club competitions, including the now-defunct Club Winners' Cup, even though the final in Wroclaw is at least eleven games away.

There should be no pressure on Chelsea this evening ahead of two uncomfortable away journeys, considering their next opponents are the lowest-ranked team they will play in the league round.

Maresca will dread the lengthy journey to frigid Astana, Kazakhstan, in mid-December, while Heidenheim, who are debutants but still competitive in the Bundesliga, will welcome the challenge.

The Chelsea squad that played to a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday will be drastically different from the one that plays here, as has been the case with all of Chelsea's cup games so far.

The Blues will rest their essential players in preparation for their next match against Arsenal, their bitter rivals in London. A victory would give them a three-point advantage and ensure that they remain in the Premier League's top four.

The chance to meet the two-time Champions League champions has finally arrived for last season's Armenian Premier League runners-up—a game that they had dreamt of since the draw in August.

They shocked everyone by being the only club in the Conference League's short existence to advance from the first qualifying round to this level, despite just being created in 2017. The team is named after the biblical character Noah, and they are the youngest club participating in Europe this season.

After two failed attempts at breaking into the European market, Noah's confidence was boosted by a 4-0 first-round victory against Shkendija and a 7-0 second-round thumping of Sliema Wanderers.

Following a surprising 3-1 home victory, Rui Mota's Noah team improbably clung on to advance on aggregate and then repeated the feat in the playoffs against Ruzomberok. At the time, Noah was a massive underdog against Greek powerhouse AEK Athens.

However, their away history on the continent is a cause for worry. They were only drawn against Sliema in Malta and have subsequently lost three games in a row, including their trip to Rapid Vienna on matchday two.

However, they are still in the running for the qualifying spots going into matchday three, thanks to their historic opening-day victory against Mlada Boleslav.

There will be an acknowledgment that this trip to London will most likely end in defeat, but they are currently in a confident mood thanks to four consecutive wins at home and fourteen goals scored. They will likely target their next home games against Vikingur and APOEL to get over the line and, who knows, maybe advance to the knockout stage.

Chelsea x NOAH Team News

Chelsea will likely start eleven different players in a cup match, and Maresca may even give some of the younger players additional playing time due to the high quality of the opponent.

Cole Palmer will be allowed to rest up for Chelsea's next match against Arsenal at the weekend despite a minor knee injury he sustained in the weekend's reckless challenge by Lisandro Martinez.

While Jadon Sancho has been out with an illness, Pedro Neto has broken into the Premier League starting lineup thanks to his cup performance. Sancho returned to training this week, so he may begin to regain match fitness in this competition.

In addition to midfielder Martin Gambos, the visitors are now without left defender Gudmundur Thorarinsson, who was substituted early in the match against Rapid Vienna two weeks ago.

After scoring twice in qualification against AEK and Ruzomberok and six times in nine league games this season, Goncalo Gregorio will be looking to get back into their European XI.

While goalkeeper Ognjen Cancarevic did find the back of the net in the AEK victory, he will likely be kept busy with his primary responsibilities today. Cancarevic has made six saves in Noah's first two league phase matches this season.

Our Predictions

Over 3.5 goals @ 1.70 on Sky247.ng

Noah has shown they can compete and defend resolutely, so a thumping is not inevitable—this is one of the biggest mismatches in European play this season.

Although the Armenian minnows have had an excellent start to the season, it is pretty doubtful that they will be able to thwart Chelsea's clean sheet streak, which began nine games ago in a 5-0 victory over League Two Barrow. A comfortable home win seems inevitable.

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