Chelsea will lock horns with Panathinaikos at the Athens Olympic Stadium this Thursday evening as they focus on securing a victory on the road in the UEFA Europa Conference League. The Blues suffered a difficult 2-1 loss away at Liverpool recently, so they would be eager to get back to winning ways in Greece later this week.
Enzo Maresca will opt for the 4-2-3-1 formation once again and is expected to make a lot of changes to his first XI for this game. Christopher Nkunku will lead the line for the West London club in the final third.
4-2-3-1 Chelsea Predicted Lineup To Face Panathinaikos
Defence
Marcus Bettinelli will feature in between the sticks for Chelsea as he looks to keep a clean sheet away from home in midweek. Tosin Adarabioyo will play alongside Benoit Badiashile at the centre of Maresca’s defence as they look to keep things solid at the back throughout the 90 minutes.
Axel Disasi will fill in as the right-back while Renato Veiga hopes to impress on the other side as the left-back. Both of them will get the freedom to get forward and offer support to the front players at every chance they get.
Levi Colwill will be rested on the bench as he provides cover for the defensive positions.
Midfield
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Cesare Casadei will operate as the holding midfielders for the Blues as they try to make life tough for the home team in the middle of the park. The talented trio of Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix and Pedro Neto will play just ahead of them as part of Maresca’s attack. All three of them need to be at their best if Chelsea are to earn a convincing win in Greece this week.
Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez will have to be content with a place on the bench and might come on to make an impact in the second half if required.
Attack
Christopher Nkunku will spearhead Maresca’s attack up top. He has to find a way to cause some headaches for the Panathinaikos defenders during the game.
Nicolas Jackson will be rested on the bench as he waits for his opportunity to impress as a late-game substitute if needed.
