Astana vs Chelsea – Team News: Outcast midfielder and academy talent get rare starts | OneFootball

Chelsea face Astana in Kazakhstan in just under an hour, and the teams are in!

We expected maximum changes and we got them – 10 changes come from the weekend’s win over Spurs, with only Pedro Neto retained.

The winger picked up a yellow card in that game which will mean he is suspended this weekend, so he gets a run out here to keep him fresh. Apart from that it’s a crazy mix of youth and reserves.

Standard B team goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is in goal – it could be a long night for him given how cold it is, and how little he might be called into action.

Ahead of him, Josh Acheampong plays at right back, ending his long freeze-out from action at any level.

In the middle of defence, Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi form a pretty solid block for the team to hopefully build from. Renato Veiga reprises his usual role as a left back who can invert into midfield.

Ahead of that is where things get really interesting. The midfielder has Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall alongside Carney Chukwuemeka (making his first start of the season) and 19 year old Samuel Rak-Sakyi.

Up front, Tyrique George and Neto flank Marc Guiu who leads the line.

Here are the full team line-ups for Astana vs Chelsea (kick off at 15:30 GMT)

CHELSEA:

A sample London to Astana trip.

The most important thing from this game,, basically, is to get in and out of Kazakhstan and their time zone without any injuries and with a minimum of disruption to our schedule. The team will only be in the country for less than 24 hours.

This is as long a journey as you can take in European football – but this was always on the cards when we entered the Conference League, and it’ll soon be behind us. Then the focus can turn to Brentford on Sunday.