Chelsea team news vs FC Copenhagen and predicted lineup | OneFootball

Chelsea resume their quest for Europa Conference League glory when they travel to face FC Copenhagen in the first leg of their last 16 tie on Thursday.

The game at the Parken Stadium kicks off at 5:45pm and will be shown on TNT Sports 4.

Chelsea predicted lineup vs FC Copenhagen

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Acheampong, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Dewsbury-Hall; George, Palmer, Sancho; Nkunku.

Chelsea team news vs FC Copenhagen

Trevoh Chalobah could be in contention to return for Chelsea, but Benoit Badiashile is expected to miss the visit to Copenhagen. Wesley Fofana is back from injury but isn’t registered for the Europa Conference League.

In midfield, Chelsea are still missing Romeo Lavia through injury (who also isn’t registered for the competition). But they could instead give a chance to Mathis Amougou who was signed in January and registered to the Blues Conference League squad for the knockout phase.

Cole Palmer is another player who wasn’t involved in the initial Conference League squad for the group phase, but has been added for the knockouts, and could be involved in some capacity for this first leg tie.

The forward line is still looking light however, with Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Marc Guiu all unavailable due to injury issues, which has seen Pedro Neto starting up front in the past few games.

Maresca to trust the academy?

Two academy graduates who could be in line to start against FC Copenhagen on Thursday are Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong. The pair seem to have earned their spot in the first-team, being given chances by Enzo Maresca in the recent months.

George came off the bench against Southampton, providing an assist for Marc Cucurella which gave him his first Premier League goal involvement. The 19-year-old winger has made 13 appearances for the senior team this season, providing three assists and totalling 502 minutes played.

Acheampong, on the other hand, has only made six appearances so far this season. However, the 18-year-old defender has played a total of 375 minutes this season, starting two Premier League games already against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth back to back.

One more name we could see involved is 17-year-old Shumaira Mheuka, who made his Premier League debut last week against Southampton, coming from the bench for the final minutes of the game.

Mheuka is a centre-forward, who has made 22 appearances for the Under-18 and Under-21 teams this season, scoring eight goals and providing two assists in those games. With Neto being the current striker choice in the absence of Jackson and Guiu, Mheuka could find himself involved to some degree, should Maresca look to rest and preserve his makeshift Portuguese striker.