Enzo Maresca given Chelsea Premier League boost thanks to dream UEFA Conference League scenario
Enzo Maresca's Chelsea side are the red-hot favourites to lift the Conference League trophy at Wroclaw Stadium in Poland come the end of May. It's not hard to see why either considering the strength of the Chelsea squad heading into this season's competition.
After progressing through their two-legged play-off tie with a 3-2 aggregate win over Swiss side Servette, the west London club begin their league phase fixtures on Thursday evening when they host Gent at Stamford Bridge. Following the game against the Belgian team, further fixtures against Panathinaikos, Noah, Heidenheim, Astana and Shamrock Rovers are on the schedule as they aim to progress to the knockout round.
Chelsea's calendar in 2024/25 is certainly a lot busier than last season after not even competing in Europe at all. One of the main talking points when it comes to European fixtures is whether a team is either at home or away directly after a game in Europe.
After all, managers ideally don't want their team to be on the road so soon after travelling in midweek to play European football. For Chelsea, things look very good indeed for Maresca's men in regards to their Premier League games straight after playing in the Conference League.
Although the Blues do have some incredibly tricky games on the schedule with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Aston Villa to come after European action, five of their six Premier League games following Conference League fixtures are at Stamford Bridge. That will come as a huge boost to Maresca and it could potentially give the team the platform to carry on their impressive start to the term as they currently lie two points off league leaders Liverpool after six games.
Due to the size of Maresca's squad, the Italian will have the opportunity to rotate heavily in Europe and that means his first-team regulars could be saved for their Premier League match a few days later. Cole Palmer will certainly be refreshed and ready to go as he was left out of the Chelsea squad for the Europa Conference League league phase.
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Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana were also not included, although that was more to do with managing their workload after only making one appearance between them in 2023/24 due to injury issues. With Chelsea at home to Gent on Thursday evening, they will have home comforts once again on Sunday as Nottingham Forest make the trip to SW6.
Newcastle United, Arsenal and Aston Villa then come directly after their following three European games, with Brentford at home currently in the calendar for Saturday, December 14 once they have travelled back from Kazakhstan where they play Astana. After their last league phase fixture against Shamrock Rovers, Chelsea face a tricky away game at Everton in their last game before Christmas.
Maresca will certainly be hoping for more of the same in the second half of the season if Chelsea, as expected, progress to the knockout round of the Europa Conference League.
Chelsea Premier League fixtures after European games
Sunday, October 6 - Nottingham Forest (H)
Sunday, October 27 - Newcastle United (H)
Sunday, November 10 - Arsenal (H)
Sunday, December 1 - Aston Villa (H)
Saturday, December 14 - Brentford (H)*
Saturday, December 21 - Everton (A)*
*Date still to be confirmed