Panathinaikos vs. Chelsea, UEFA Conference League: Preview, team news, how to watch

Usually, footballers head to Greece for a bit of offseason partying. This time, we’re going there strictly for business.

And business has been pretty good of late, despite the defeat against Liverpool on Sunday: we had a seven-match unbeaten run going before then. Perfect opportunity to start a new streak then!

This is matchday number two of six in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League. Our 4-2 win over Gent on matchday one sees us sitting sixth in the 36-team league. Top eight advance directly to the Round of 16.

Please do note the earlier-than-usual start time for this one.

Date / Time: Thursday, October 24, 2024; 17.45 BST; 12:45pm EDT; 10:15pm IST
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece
Referee: António Nobre (on pitch); André Narciso (VAR)
Forecast: nice and warm with a lovely breeze … ahhhh Greece

On TV: TNT Sports 1 (UK); none (USA); Sony TEN 5 (India); elsewhere
Streaming: discovery+ (UK); Paramount+ (USA); Sony LIV (India)

Panathinaikos team news: One of the big three of Greek football (along with AEK Athens and Olympiacos), Panathinaikos finished fourth last season, but they did win the Greek Cup. There was significant turnover during the summer however, and they’re currently down to just sixth, having won just three of eight.

In Europe, they lost to Ajax in the Europa League qualifying rounds but beat Lens in the Conference League qualifiers to get into the league phase itself. On matchday one, they managed just a draw, away, against Bosnian champions Borac Banja Luka.

But all that is secondary at the club right now following the tragic death of George Baldock. The former Sheffield United defender who played for the Greece national team joined the club in the summer; this will be their first home game since the news broke earlier this month.

Other summer arrivals include former Manchester United prospect Facundo Pellistri and former Shakhtar winger Tetê. Slovenia international Andraž Šporar is their biggest goal threat — he missed the 2022 FA Cup quarterfinal against Chelsea through illness when he was playing for Middlesbrough; he looks to have recovered from another illness just in time for this one!

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea team news: Chelsea have a clean bill of health — that’s rare! — with goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen declared fit following his concussion and presumably thus set to start. Mykhailo Mudryk was also absent over the weekend; that’s been chalked up to a “technical decision” — i.e. not being good enough. But he’ll get a chance to shine in this one, as will the rest of the B-squad probably.

Among the traveling group of 22 are youngsters Tyrique George, Sam Rak-Sakyi, and 17-year-old (barely) Shim Mhueka. For the latter two, it could be their first official involvement at senior level.

Those staying behind at Cobham include those not registered for this phase of the competition, Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana, Roméo Lavia, (and Ben Chilwell), as well as those undergoing workload management: Moisés Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill, and Reece James.

Previously: This will be our fourth game against Greek opposition in Greece, but the first against Panathinaikos. As pointed out by the official website, every time we’ve played a Greek team in Europe, we’ve gone on to reach the final of that competition: 1970-71 Cup Winners’ Cup (Aris Salonika), 2007-08 Champions League (Olympiacos), 2018-19 Europa League (PAOK). We’d win two of those three.