Servettevs.Chelsea

The West Londoners head to Stade de Geneve with a two-goal advantage after securing a 2-0 victory in their first encounter on home soil.

Match preview

After a season away from Europe, Chelsea now have one foot in the newly-expanded 2024-25 Conference League after second-half goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke sealed a 2-0 first-leg win.

Nkunku's cooly converted penalty was followed by a sweet strike from substitute Madueke, who just three days later netted a superb 14-minute hat-trick - the first of his senior career - in Chelsea's 6-2 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Sunday.

First-half goals from Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer were cancelled out by Wolves duo Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen, but Chelsea were rampant after the break and secured all three points courtesy of Madueke's treble - all assisted by Palmer - and a late strike from new signing Joao Felix.

An enthused Enzo Maresca, now off the mark as a Premier League manager, acknowledged after the match that Chelsea's second-half attacking display is how his side 'intends' to play going forward, while the Italian also reiterated that he needs time to improve players and build a Blues team capable of competing for top honours.

Chelsea have won their last three away games, including two from last season, but they merely need a draw against Servette to progress on aggregate and ensure that their name will be in the hat for Friday's Conference League draw.

Servette held their own for large spells of last week's first leg with Chelsea, having seven more shots and twice as many corners, but they ultimately lacked a cutting edge in the final third and now face an uphill battle to progress to the Conference League for a second successive season.

Head coach Thomas Haberli rued the missed opportunities his side had at Stamford Bridge, particularly in the second half, and although he has admitted that a two-goal deficit is "quite a lot" to overturn against a team of Chelsea's quality, he has refused to give up hope of pulling off an almighty upset in Geneva.

Servette, who secured a third-placed finish in the Swiss Super League and won the Swiss Cup last season, were not in domestic action last weekend, so they will have had a full seven days to rest and prepare for Thursday's second leg.

Positive results have been hard to come by for the Maroons, who have won only one of their last six competitive matches in all competitions this month, losing their last two on home soil including a 6-0 top-flight drubbing by Braga and a 2-1 second-leg defeat to Braga in the Europa League third qualifying round.

Prior to their first-leg meeting with Chelsea, Servette had only previously come up against two English teams in European competition, firstly losing 3-2 on aggregate to Liverpool in the 1971-72 Cup Winners' Cup, despite winning the first leg 2-1, before suffering a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Derby Country three years later in the UEFA Cup.

Servette Europa Conference League form:

L

Servette form (all competitions):

W

L

D

L

L

L

Chelsea Europa Conference League form:

W

Chelsea form (all competitions):

L

L

D

L

W

W

Team News

Chelsea are set to be without captain Reece James as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury, while Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling all been omitted from the club's Conference League squad.

Midfield duo Romeo Lavia (hamstring) and Moises Caicedo (knock) are both doubtful, the latter was taken off against Wolves after a strong collision, so Enzo Fernandez and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall could link arms in the middle of the pitch.

After making nine changes for the win over Wolves, Maresca is expected to make several alterations to his first XI once again, with Filip Jurgensen, Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Pedro Neto, Mac Guiu, Felix and Nkunku among those all pushing for a recall.

As for Servette, Victory Beniangba is yet to play this season due to a muscle injury and requires at least a few more weeks on the sidelines, so either Enzo Crivelli or Jeremy Guillemenot could lead the line on Thursday.

Dereck Kutesa, who has received offers to leave the club amid interest from Saudi Arabia, was handed a start on the left wing in the first leg and should continue in the first XI; the 26-year-old has scored five goals in nine games so far this season.

Haberli is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, although Theo Magnin and Alexis Antunes will be pushing to start at right-back and in midfield respectively at the expense of Keigo Tsunemoto and David Douline.

Servette possible starting lineup:

Frick; Tsunemoto, Rouiller, Severin, Mazikou; Douline, Ondoua; Stevanovic, Antunes, Kutesa; Crivelli

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Disasi, Tosin, Badiashile, Cucurella; Fernandez, Dewsbury-Hall; Madueke, Felix, Neto; Nkunku

We say: Servette 1-3 Chelsea (Chelsea to win 5-1 on aggregate)

If Servette can rediscover their clinical touch in the final third, then Chelsea could be up against it in stages of Thursday's contest against a Swiss side who have nothing to lose and are expected to attack from the off.

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