Chelsea vs Shamrock Rovers prediction: EUROPE: Conference League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-12-18 20:00.
[p]Although they were expected to sail through the league phase of this season’s UEFA Conference League before it got underway, Chelsea have no less still shown their tournament-winning credentials to obtain maximum points from their opening five matches (W5). The Blues are impressing in the Premier League too, as 2-1 weekend win against Brentford moved them within two points of the summit.[/p]
[p]Just last week, manager Enzo Maresca claimed that his side were not in the Premier League title showdown, and whether that’s the case remains debatable, there’s no doubting that Chelsea are huge favourites to win this season’s Conference League. Now, only Shamrock Rovers stand in their way of finishing their group stage equivalent campaign with a 100% record for the first time in club history across major European competition. [/p]
[p]This will be the first competitive meeting between these two sides, but if Shamrock’s prior record in European competition against English opposition is anything to go by (L4), it could prove to be a long night at Stamford Bridge for the visitors. They enter here in fine form in this year’s Conference League at least, impressively remaining unbeaten across their five league phase outings (W3, D2) to secure some form of knockout football in this competition. [/p]
[p]They’ll hope that comes in the form of a top-eight finish, and a surprise win here would cement that which perhaps isn’t as unlikely as it may appear. Rovers remain strong on the road of late, going unbeaten across their last six such competitive matches (W4, D2), none of which have witnessed them concede multiple goals in the process. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: All three of Marc Guiu’s goals for Chelsea this season have come in the Conference League, with each of those also coming before the 20th minute. Last time out, Shamrock’s Johnny Kenny became the first player from the Republic of Ireland to score 5+ goals in a single season of a major European competition since Robbie Keane for Tottenham during the 2006/07 UEFA Cup.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only Legia Warsaw (2) have conceded fewer Conference League goals than both Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers during the league phase (4). [/p]
[p][i]Written by Nathan Evans[/i][/p]