Chelsea resume their UEFA Conference League campaign on Thursday against Bundesliga side Heidenheim.
The Blues thrashed FC Noah 8-0 in their previous European game to make it three wins from three and put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the knockout phase in 2025.
They claimed a 2-1 Premier League win at Leicester City last Saturday and will be eager to build some momentum as they prepare to face Aston Villa and Tottenham in the early part of December.
Heidenheim have struggled in the German top flight in 2024/25. Their 5-2 defeat to champions Bayer Leverkusen last weekend left them in 15th place in the table, just two points above the bottom three, and they are on a run of just four wins in all competitions since September 1.
The Sporting News looks at the latest injury picture and predicted lineups for this fixture.
MORE: All the latest Chelsea news | Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings
Heidenheim vs. Chelsea lineups, predicted starting 11, team news
Heidenheim were 2-0 up after 21 minutes against Leverkusen only to collapse to defeat, so it will be interesting to see whether coach Frank Schmidt makes many significant changes.
One enforced absentee is top scorer Marvin Pieringer, who went off injured in that defeat — something Schmidt felt was a key factor behind his team's loss.
Defender Marnon Busch missed out last weekend through injury and is a doubt to face Chelsea. Midfielder Julian Niehues is a long-term absentee due to a serious knee injury.
Heidenheim predicted XI (4-3-1-2, right to left): Muller (GK) — Traore, Mainka, Gimber, Fohrenbach — Maloney, Schoppner, Beck — Dorsch — Wanner, Conteh
Injured: Busch, Niehues, Pieringer
Suspended: XX
MORE: All the latest EPL club news | Team-by-team Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings
Chelsea captain Reece James suffered another hamstring issue prior to the Leicester game and it is unclear when he will return. Fellow right-back Malo Gusto is one of a group of first-team players not travelling for this match, which includes several star names.
Moises Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez, and Marc Cucurella are all being rested for this game.
Levi Colwill is in the squad, along with Jadon Sancho, with Enzo Maresca expected to rotate the team heavily given the short turnaround before Sunday's game against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea predicted XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Jorgensen (GK) — Disasi, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Veiga — Chukwuemeka, Dewsbury-Hall — George, Joao Felix, Mudryk — Nkunku
Injured: James
Suspended: None
Ineligible: Palmer, Lavia, Chilwell, Fofana, Bettinelli
Unavailable: Gusto, Neto, Jackson, Fernandez, Cucurella
Heidenheim vs. Chelsea live stream, TV channel
Here's how to watch this UEFA Conference League match across selected areas of the world's major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | — | Paramount+, ViX |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
| UK | TNT Sports 1 | discovery+ |
| Australia | — | Stan Sport |
| India | Sony Ten 2 | Sony LIV, JioTV |
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