Chelsea vs FC Copenhagen – Match preview and team news

The Football Faithful

·13 mars 2025

Chelsea vs FC Copenhagen – Match preview and team news

Chelsea welcome FC Copenhagen to Stamford Bridge tonight for the second leg of their Europa Conference League Round of 16 tie.

The Blues triumphed last Thursday by recording a 2-1 victory at Parken with Reece James and Enzo Fernandez finding the net.

Vidéos OneFootball

Enzo Maresca revealed that Cole Palmer, Reece James and Christopher Nkunku only trained yesterday following respective fitness issues.

👋📸
– mercredi 12 mars 2025

With that considered, the trio may not be risked tonight. It has also been rumoured that illness is affecting the squad so there could be some surprise exclusions for the second leg.

Malo Gusto is still unable to feature and he joins Noni Madueke, Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu on the treatment table. Despite being physically capable, Romeo Lavia is also unavailable. The midfielder wasn’t included in their European roster.

FC Copenhagen will be hoping to cause an upset tonight and knock one of Europe’s most successful teams out.

Their venture will be missing a few key figures with Kevin Diks and Thomas Delaney not expected to appear at Stamford Bridge. In the aftermath of the first leg, Diks was dealing with an issue that forced him to miss the weekend’s game.

Chelsea vs FC Copenhagen – Match preview and team news

Form

Chelsea: LLWWW

Chelsea propelled themselves back into the Premier League top four thanks to a 1-0 win over Leicester.

Marc Cucurella’s second-half drive was the difference at Stamford Bridge in a game bereft of much quality.

It was the first time Enzo Maresca’s side had managed to win consecutive league games this calendar year. A 4-0 pummelling of bottom-of-the-table Southampton preceded Sunday’s victory.

If the Blues avoid defeat tonight, they will face either Vitoria de Guimaraes or Real Betis in the quarter-finals.

FC Copenhagen: WWDLD

FC Copenhagen failed to win for the third successive match as they were held at home to relegation-threatened Sonderjyske.

Jacob Neestrup’s side failed to capitalise on their game in hand on league leaders FC Midtjylland and now trail them by a single point.

The final game of the regular league season occurs this weekend as they travel to Viborg.

After that clash, the Danish Superligaen divides into two and a six-team Championship playoff takes place.

Last Meeting

FC Copenhagen 1-2 Chelsea, Europa Conference League, 6th March 2025

It’s advantage Chelsea in the second leg tonight after they prevailed in the Danish capital last Thursday.

The favourites for the Europa Conference League crown extended their immaculate record with their seventh successive win in this competition.

After an uneventful first half, the Blues scored within 56 seconds of the restart through their captain. A loose pass rolled invitingly for Reece James who precisely drilled a shot from 25 yards into the bottom corner.

The upright denied the hosts from a prompt equaliser. Victor Claesson ghosted in behind James to latch onto Birger Meling’s incisive through ball, but the forward could only strike the post from an acute angle.

Copenhagen were determined to play out from the back which ended up costing them dearly. An incessant press from Chelsea saw Giorgi Gocholeishvili dispossessed by Marc Cucurella, who found Tyrique George. The talented prospect cut it back to Enzo Fernandez and the Argentine ruthlessly guided the ball out of the reach of Diant Ramaj.

However, with ten minutes remaining the hosts halved the deficit to keep them in the tie. Gabriel Pereira was left unmarked from a deep free-kick and his powerful header proved too strong for Robert Sanchez to keep out.

The Blues returned to Stamford Bridge with a positive result, but one that was tarnished by the concession of a simple goal.

Predicted Lineups

Chelsea: Jorgensen; James, Badiashile, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; George, Dewsbury-Hall, Neto, Nkunku.

FC Copenhagen: Ramaj; Gocholeishvili, Pereira, Garananga, Hatzidakos, Lopez; Claesson, Clem, Froholdt, Robert, Chiakha.

Who is the referee?

Romanian referee Radu Petrescu will be the match official. Radu Ghinguleac and Mircea Mihail Grigoriu will assist him while Andrei Chivulete will be the fourth official. The VAR will be Catalin Popa and he will be assisted by Marcel Birsan.