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Tournament favourites Chelsea continue their UEFA Conference League campaign with a visit to Greece to take on Panathinaikos on Matchday 2.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Thursday 24th October, 2024: UK – 5:45pm / US ET – 12:45pm / US PT – 9:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Paramount+
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ / US – Paramount+ & ViX
PANATHINAIKOS PREVIEW: ONE DEFEAT IN NINE
Heading into this fixture, Panathinaikos have lost just one of their last nine games in all competitions with their most recent outing being a 0-1 win away at OFI in the Greek Super League, where they currently reside in sixth position.
Having come through a qualifying play-off double-header with Lens, Diego Alonso's side drew 1-1 away at Bosnian outfit Borac Banja Luka in their league phase opener.
CHELSEA PREVIEW: UNBEATEN RUN ENDED AT ANFIELD
Chelsea's unbeaten run in all competitions ended at seven games over the weekend when they lost to Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield, although it's fair to say that the Blues have generally impressed under new manager Enzo Maresca this season.
The Premier League side kicked off the league phase with a 4-2 victory over Gent, and they are heavily favoured by the bookies to go on and win this competition owing to the considerable talent they boast in their squad.
PANATHINAIKOS TEAM NEWS: IOANNIDIS OUT
Striker Fotis Ioannidis, who last featured in a Super League game on 6th August during which he was withdrawn in the first half due to injury, is absent here, so one of Andra Sporar or Alexander Jeremejeff is expected to lead the line.
Elsewhere, it is likely to be a similar starting XI than that which drew with Borac Banja Luka at the start of the month.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Dragowski; Kotsiras, Jedvaj, Schenkeveld, Mladenovic; Maksimovic, Cerin; Pellistri, Bakasetas, Duricic; Sporar
UNAVAILABLE: Ioannidis (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
CHELSEA TEAM NEWS: JORGENSEN AVAILABLE
Maresca very much set his stall out with his starting line-up against Gent and we could see the same XI here, especially as Filip Jorgensen has been passed fit after a head injury threatened to keep him out.
The Chelsea boss has been hinting at a possible return to action for the previously out-of-favour Ben Chilwell lately but the left-back, who has been unwell lately in any case, was not included in the Blues' Conference League squad.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Disasi, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Veiga; Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
KEY STATS
• This is the first UEFA competition match between these two teams.
• Panathinaikos have won only one of their last 20 UEFA competition group/league phase matches (D5 L14).
• Panathinaikos have won only one of their previous 18 UEFA competition matches against English teams (D6 L11). That was a 1-0 home win against Arsenal in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Panathinaikos have drawn their last two UEFA competition matches at home against English teams.
• Panathinaikos have lost only one of their last five UEFA competition matches at home against English teams (W1 D3).
• Chelsea have won four and drawn two of their previous six UEFA competition matches against Greek teams.
• Chelsea have not conceded a goal in their last four UEFA competition matches against Greek teams.
• Chelsea have won their last five UEFA competition group/league phase matches.
• Chelsea have lost only two of their last 24 UEFA competition group/league phase matches (W16 D6).
PANATHINAIKOS VS CHELSEA PREDICTION
Such is the size of Chelsea's squad, they can put out almost an entirely different starting XI to their Premier League regulars and they would still be considered the favourites for this competition, and here they face a Panathinaikos side who didn't exactly impress in their competition opener.
For the visitors, this offers another chance for some of the fringe squad members to impress. Namely Christopher Nkunku, who has found the net with regularity this season when he has been given the opportunity. Also on target for France on international duty recently, the 26-year-old looks a strong option in the goalscorer markets.
PANATHINAIKOS VS CHELSEA TIP: CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU TO SCORE ANYTIME