Heidenheim and Chelsea look to maintain their perfect records in the league stage of the Conference League on Thursday when they meet in Germany.
Enzo Maresca’s side have been untouchable in Europe so far, scoring 16 goals in their three league stage matches. 8-0 thrashing against the Armenian team Noah ensured they were Conference leaders at the end of matchday 3.
The Blues’ domestic form has been more patchy in recent weeks, but a 2-1 win over Leicester City the weekend means they remain third in the Premier League table. The west London club’s starting eleven will get a valuable midweek break as the supporting cast get their chance to shine in southern Germany.
Heidenheim were shock eliminators for the League of Conferencesachieving an eighth-place finish in the Bundesliga in their inaugural campaign in the competition. The top flight has proved too difficult to handle at times this term, but the domestic negativity has not filtered into their European performances after three wins from three games in the league stage.
here it is 90 minutes guide for a first meeting between Heidenheim and Chelsea.
Heidenheim vs Chelsea H2H Record
This is the first competitive match between Heidenheim and Chelsea.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Heidenheim |
Chelsea |
|---|---|
|
Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 Heidenheim – 23/11/24 |
Leicester 1-2 Chelsea – 23/11/24 |
|
Heidenheim 1-3 Wolfsburg – 11/10/24 |
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal – 11/10/24 |
|
Hearts 0-2 Heidenheim – 07/11/24 |
Chelsea 8-0 Noah – 07/11/24 |
|
Holstein Kiel 1-0 Heidenheim – 24/11/02 |
Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea – 03/11/24 |
|
Hertha BSC 2-1 Heidenheim – 30/10/24 |
Newcastle 2-0 Chelsea – 30/10/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
united kingdom |
Application TNT Sports 1, discovery+, discovery+ |
|
united states |
Paramount+, ViX |
|
canada |
DAZN Canada |
Legendary Heidenheim manager Frank Schmidt, who has been in the dugout since 2007, will have to produce a tactical master plan to stifle a star-studded Chelsea XI on Thursday, but he will have to do so without the club’s top brass. Bundesliga goalscorer Marvin Pieringer after suffering an Achilles injury in Saturday’s 5-2 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.
Striker Denis Thomalla, forward Stefan Schimmer and midfielder Thomas Leon Keller are all ruled out after not being named in Heidenheim’s Conference squad. Julian Niehues is out with a knee problem, while Luka Janes and Marnon-Thomas Busch could miss out through injury.
Heidenheim predicted the line-up against Chelsea (4-3-3): Woman; Traore, Mainka, Gimber, Fohrenbach; Dorsch, Maloney, Schoppner; Beck, Breunig, Honsak.
Chelsea could be without several first-team players for their trip to Germany, with Pedro Neto a possible absentee on the sidelines. The Portuguese striker picked up a knock during the international break and missed Saturday’s win over Leicester.
Chelsea’s other problems come at right-back, with the Blues sweating on the fitness of Reece James after him suffered another injury setback recently Malo Gusto is also a doubt after missing the weekend due to illness.
Maresca will make radical changes to his starting XI on Thursday, as he has done in previous Conference League games, but Chelsea will still be able to field a remarkable line-up. Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Axel Disasi are among those likely to make the squad.
Chelsea predicted line-up against Heidenheim (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Disasi, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Veiga; Dewsbury-Hall, Lavia; George, Nkunku, Mudryk; guide
Chelsea have cruised through their Conference League campaign so far and should have no problem dispatching Heidenheim in midweek. The Bundesliga side showed their strengths and weaknesses on Saturday, surrendering a two-goal lead in a 5-2 rout at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen.
Schmidt is without his star centre-forward Pieringer, which he blamed for the defeat at the BayArena, and Heidenheim will struggle to compete with a revamped and superior Chelsea XI.
The Blues have conceded three in meetings with Gent and Panathinaikos this season and could afford a few chances at the Voith-Arena, but they have more than enough firepower to win relatively comfortably.
