Heidenheim vs. Chelsea: Conference League Preview and Predictions

In Thursday night’s Conference League match at Voith-Arena, Heidenheim and Chelsea will meet to maintain their perfect continental records. In their last encounter, FCH was thrashed by the Bundesliga champions, whereas the Blues have gotten off to a good start in the Premier League thanks to their innovative management.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

With the arrival of two-time European champions Chelsea at Voith-Arena in European competition on Thursday evening, the German minnows will face the reality that legendary coach Frank Schmidt, who took charge of the club in 2007, only ever dreamed of reaching the second tier of domestic football with Heidenheim.

With three consecutive victories against NK Olimpija Ljubljana, Pafos FC, and Scottish club Hearts, the hosts FCH have gotten off to a perfect start in their 2024-25 Conference League journey despite their lack of experience in the continental arena. As a result, they now sit sixth in the 36-team league standings.

Last season, Heidenheim qualified for the Conference League with an extraordinary eighth-place finish in the Bundesliga. However, Schmidt's squad is facing a more difficult domestic campaign this season, as FCH is currently in 15th place in the top-flight standings, just two points above newly promoted St Pauli in the relegation-playoff zone.

Following their international break in November, Thursday’s hosts returned to face a daunting away trip to the home of the Bundesliga holders on Saturday evening. Despite taking an early lead through goals from Niklas Dorsch and Mathias Honsak, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen ultimately prevailed convincingly by a score of 5-2.

On Thursday, Chelsea will pay a high-profile visit to Voith-Arena to take on Heidenheim. Despite a flawless start to the Conference League, the German club has gone winless in their past seven matches in the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal this season, which is a significant cause for worry.

Chelsea went four games undefeated in November after losing out on the EFL Cup in the fourth round to Newcastle United in late October. Their most recent victory came Saturday afternoon at the King Power Stadium against a Leicester City team in danger of relegation.

After taking a lot of heat for his lacklustre finishing in his first season in England, Nicolas Jackson is now playing like a world-class forward. He scored the opening goal in the East Midlands, his seventh of the season, and Enzo Fernandez sealed the deal in the second half.

As the hectic holiday season draws near, Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are in third position in the Premier League, one point behind Manchester City for second place. They have eight points from four league games since their 2-1 loss at Liverpool on 20 October.

Moving on to continental matters, the Blues have shown why they are the heavy favourites to win UEFA’s third-tier club trophy in Wroclaw, Poland, next year in each of their first three Conference League games. The visitors from Thursday scored an eye-watering 16 goals in those three games.

In their most recent match on 7 November, a Chelsea reserve squad stunned FC Noah of Armenia, a club founded in 2017, with eight goals (two each from Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku). This result was the most noteworthy of the round.

Heidenheim x Chelsea Team News

Marvin Pieringer, Heidenheim’s top scorer, will be out until early February with an Achilles tendon problem. This is a significant setback for the club after defeating Bayer Leverkusen over the weekend.

The four-goal attacker is in the same position as 20-year-old Luka Jens, who has been out with a shoulder injury and has not played a competitive game this season.

Additionally, Thomas Leon Keller and Julian Niehues, two FCH midfielders, have both been sidelined with injuries so far in the 2024–25 season.

Pedro Neto, a Chelsea winger, suffered a minor injury while playing for Portugal earlier this month; he is now fighting to be ready to go to Germany on Thursday after missing Saturday’s victory against Leicester.

Another hamstring issue for Reece James has left the Blues anxiously awaiting scan findings; this means the injury-prone Englishman will spend more time out of action at Stamford Bridge.

Since Malo Gusto was unwell and missed Leicester’s victory, Maresca may have even fewer choices at right back.

Due to Chelsea’s hectic schedule between now and the new year, players like Tosin Adarabioyo, Axel Disasi, and Renato Veiga will likely get first-team action when the club makes its customary changes for the Conference League.

Our predictions 

Chelsea to win and over 2.5 goals @ 1.82 on Sky247.ng

On Thursday night, Heidenheim will go to Voith-Arena to take on one of the biggest teams in Europe, only ten years after playing in Germany’s third division.

Even if a crushing loss seems inevitable, the FCH faithful will not let Maresca’s plans to play a benchwarmer dampen their enthusiasm.

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