Chelsea will be confident of extending their perfect record in the Conference League as they welcome FC Noah to Stamford Bridge tonight. The Blues have cruised past Gent and Panathinaikos in their first two matches, and now take on a club that were only founded in 2017.
Enzo Maresca has made a strong start to life in the Chelsea dugout, with Sunday’s draw at Old Trafford leaving them fourth in the Premier League. The Italian has had a clear distinction between his sides for the league and the cups and that continues tonight, meaning the likes of Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku should get another chance to impress, along with 18-year-old duo Tyrique George and Marc Guiu.
Noah, who sit fourth in the Armenian Premier League, have already got themselves off the mark in Europe. They won their opening match against Mladá Boleslav, before narrowly losing to Rapid Vienna last time out. Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog below, featuring expert analysis from Dom Smith at the ground!
Chelsea vs FC Noah latest news
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Teams are out onto the pitch in west London.
Enzo Fernandez the Chelsea captain tonight. And the only midfielder.
This is your ten-minute warning.
Kick-off fast approaching at Stamford Bridge. Anything other than a goal every three minutes and I’m going to be disappointed.
FC Noah boss Rui Mota has insisted his side will not just sit back at Stamford Bridge tonight.
“Park the bus? No one ever parked the bus, not with me,” he said.
“We play our game as we have to play. We know we are playing a fantastic team, we know they are favourites. They have the whole responsibility.
“We are very humble to know this. But to park the bus? Not with me.”
Says everything you need to know about the nature of the opposition for Chelsea tonight that Enzo Maresca is trusting Enzo Fernandez to do pretty much all the defensive work in midfield himself.
UEFA are expecting Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku to partner each other as duel No10s, with Marc Guiu the sole striker.
It's a very attacking Chelsea team, and anything other than the Blues totally dominating proceedings tonight will disappoint Maresca.
They should win handsomely.
Next up in Europe for Chelsea is a trip to Germany to face Heidenheim, before a December journey to Kazakhstan as they go up against Astana.
The Blues then host Shamrock Rovers before Christmas to bring an end to the league phase.
Imagine their qualification for the knockout stages will be wrapped up by then.
Goals to fly in?
Another midweek cup game, another opportunity for Enzo Maresca’s second-string Chelsea XI to show they deserve more than merely a place on the bench in the Premier League.
The visit of FC Noah, from the remote town of Armavir in western Armenia, is the latest opportunity for Joao Felix to press his case.
Felix has unquestionably been the pick of the bunch from Chelsea’s de facto ‘B’ team this season, but his problem is that he plays in the same position as Cole Palmer.
He is at his most comfortable playing as the No10, where Palmer is the leading midfield scorer in Europe’s major leagues in 2024 and undroppable.
But Maresca offered up the idea last week that Palmer and Felix could play together.
“It depends on the game”, he explained. “Probably soon we are going to see Joao and Cole together in the pocket with a striker.”
Might that be the solution for Felix, then? Does his route to a first Premier League since he rejoined the club rest on being deployed alongside Palmer?
Read our full preview here!
FC Noah XI: Chancharevich, Muradian, Ferreira, Gregorio, Cinari, Sangare, Hambartsumyan, Miljkovic, Manvelyan, Silva, Eteki
Subs: Ploshchadnyi, Thorarinsson, Aias, Dashyan, Mendoza, Avanesian, Santos, Petrsoyan, Omar, Pinson
No surprise that it’s an attacking side named by Enzo Maresca.
There’s starts for 18-year-old duo Tyrique George and Marc Guiu, while Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku are all in the side too.
Enzo Fernandez might get a bit lonely in midfield.
Chelsea XI: Jorgensen, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Veiga, Fernandez, Felix, Mudryk, Nkunku, George, Guiu
Subs: Sanchez, Merrick, Cucurella, Madueke, Chukwuemeka, Dewsbury-Hall, Gusto, Casadei, Rak-Sakyi
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The Blues take on the Armenian side at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea look to continue their perfect start to their UEFA Conference League campaign as they host Armenian Premier League runners-up Noah at Stamford Bridge.
Currently sitting fourth in the English Premier League, The Blues find themselves at the top of the Conference League table after wins in this tournament against Panathinaikos and Gent.
With big players like Cole Palmer and Wesley Fofana not named in Chelsea's squad for the league phase of this competition, the home side will field a much-changed lineup for today's game against a Noah side that are the lowest-ranked that the west Londonders are set to face in this stage of the tournament.
Chelsea take on Noah on Thursday, Nov. 7, at Stamford Bridge in west London, with kickoff set for an 8 p.m. GMT start local time in the UK, which is 3 p.m. ET or 12 p.m. PT in the US and Canada, and a 7 a.m. AEDT start in Australia on Friday morning.
Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the match as it happens, wherever you are in the world.
Christopher Nkunku is set to start up front for Chelsea in today's game.
American soccer fans can stream every fixture of this season's tournament via Paramount Plus, which has exclusive live English-language broadcast rights in the US for the UEFA Conference League.
Paramount Plus has two main subscription plans in the US: Essential for $8 per month and Premium for $13 per month. Both offer coverage of the UEFA Conference League as well as the Champions League and the Europa League.
The cheaper Essential option has ads for on-demand streaming and lacks live CBS feeds as well as the ability to download shows to watch offline later. Newcomers to the service can take advantage of a 30-day free trial, while students may qualify for a 25% discount.
Read our Paramount Plus review.
If you find yourself unable to view UEFA Conference League matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
TNT Sports have the rights to broadcast UEFA Europa League fixtures in the UK, with this match set to be shown live today on TNT Sports 1.
TNT Sports is the place to watch UEFA Conference League matches exclusively live this season in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in a number of ways, including via Sky Q as a TV package or direct streaming from its range of mobile and smart TV apps. It costs £31 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus' library of documentary content.
If you want to stream UEFA Conference League games live in Canada, you'll need to subscribe to DAZN Canada. The service has exclusive broadcast rights to the tournament this season.
A DAZN subscription currently costs CA$30 a month or CA$200 a year and will also give you access to the Champions League, and the Europa League, plus EFL Championship soccer, Six Nations rugby and WTA tennis.
As well as dedicated apps for iOS and Android, there's a wide range of support for set-top boxes and smart TVs.
Football fans Down Under can watch UEFA Conference League matches on streaming service Stan Sport, which has exclusive rights to show this tournament live in Australia this season.
Stan Sport will set you back AU$15 per month (on top of a AU$12 basic Stan subscription), but the streaming service is currently offering a seven-day free trial.
A subscription will also give you access to Champions League and Europa Conference League action, as well as international rugby and Formula E.
