Chelsea continue their UEFA Conference League journey with a long flight to Kazakhstan to face FC Astana on Dec. 12.
The Blues are coming off six consecutive wins in all competitions, with the latest being a thrilling London derby win against Tottenham that saw them climb to sole possession of second place in the Premier League.
With a travel time of approximately eight hours and temperatures expected to reach freezing levels during the game, Chelsea will rely on plenty of academy talent to continue their perfect record in the competition so far, whilst also protecting and resting key players for Sunday's Premier League clash against Brentford.
Enzo Maresca left out a considerable amount of big name players from the trip, including Conference League regulars, Christopher Nkunku, João Félix, Benoît Badiashile and Mykhaylo Mudryk. Plenty of young academy players appear poised to get significant minutes at the Almaty Ortalyk Stadion, with Maresca previewing possible first team debuts.
Here's how Chelsea could lineup against FC Astana in the UEFA Conference League.
JOIN SI SOCCER'S CHELSEA WHATSAPP COMMUNITY - GET ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND ANALYSIS STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE
Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs. FC Astana (4-2-3-1)
GK: Filip Jörgensen—The former Villarreal goalkeeper got his first taste of Premier League soccer a week ago and looks to continue to pressure Robert Sánchez for the number one role.
RB: Josh Acheampong—After some issues with a contract dispute, the talented 18-year-old academy product will get his first senior start, as was teased by Maresca in his pre-match press conference.
CB: Axel Disasi—Disasi has two goals in his last three Chelsea appearances and has been a regular in the Conference League lineup.
CB: Tosin Adarabioyo—Adarabioyo will be the veteran presence and leader of Chelsea's back line vs. Astana.
LB: Renato Veiga—The versatile Portuguese player will start from the left back position but will likely invert to midfield when Chelsea are in possession.
CM: Samuel Rak-Sakyi—The 19-year-old academy product will make his first senior start in the base of midfield after making his debut in the 8–0 victory over Noah FC in early Nov.
CM: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall—The former Leicester City man is well down the midfielder depth chart and the bulk of his minutes will have to come via the Conference League.
RW: Pedro Neto—Neto got booked against Tottenham and will have to serve a one game suspension in the league for yellow card accumulation. Without a chance to feature next weekend, Neto will have to make the journey to Kazakhstan to stay in game shape.
AM: Carney Chukwuemeka—Chukwuemeka looked like a very promising player under Mauricio Pochettino, but has found it hard to get any playing time with Maresca. He'll hope to impress the Italian in what would be his first start of the season.
LW: Tyrique George—The 18-year-old winger has featured plenty in the Conference League this season and will be hoping to get his first senior goal or assist for the Blues.
READ THE LATEST CHELSEA NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs. FC Astana: UEFA Conference League.
