A long trip to Kazakhstan represents gruelling midweek business for Chelsea as they continue their Conference League campaign with a fixture against Astana.
A strong start to the Premier League season under Enzo Maresca continued with a comeback win at Tottenham on Sunday to leave Chelsea second and trailing Liverpool, who have played one game fewer, by four points.
Things are going smoothly in the tertiary European competition, too, with Maresca’s side atop the standings with four wins from four.
A heavily-rotated side is expected to be named for this meeting with Astana, who have one win so far in the Conference League and need a strong finish to assure themselves a place in the knockout rounds.
Here’s everything you need to know.
When is Astana vs Chelsea?
Astana vs Chelsea is due to kick off at 3.30pm GMT at the Almaty Central Stadium, which is being used with Astana’s regular ground under renovation.
How can I watch it?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 2, with coverage from 3pm GMT. Subscribers can stream via discovery+.
If you want to stream major sporting events while you are travelling or watching from abroad you’ll need a VPN. Get the best VPN deals in the UK. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.
Team news
Astana have not played for nearly a fortnight and are not thought to have any fresh injury concerns.
Enzo Maresca has spared most of his squad the trip to Kazakhstan, with Chelsea set to have a youthful look. Josh Acheampong is set to start while Ato Ampah, Harrison McMahon, Kaiden Wilson, Richard Olise and Harrison Murray-Campbell are among others to have travelled hoping for an opportunity.
Official line-ups
Astana XI: Seisen, Bartolec, Kalaica, Kazukolovas, Vorogovskiy, Ebonh, Chinedu, Tomasov, Marochkin, Camara, Amanovic
Bench: Zarutskiy, Condric, Bystrov, Kuat, Ahanonu, Beisebekov, Osei, Astanov, Basmanov, Gripshi, Karimov, Zhaksylyk
Chelsea XI: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Disasi, Tosin, Veiga, Dewsbury-Hall, Rak-Sakyi, George, Chukwuemeka, Neto, Guiu
Bench: Bergstrom, Merrick, Dyer, Vale, Olise, Ampah, Murray-Campbell, Wilson, Mheuka
Odds
Astana win 9/1
Draw 19/4
Chelsea win 6/17
The Independent vets betting sites for useability, security and responsible gambling tools. You can claim free bets here to use across a range of sports. Please read the terms.
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
