Overview
Chelsea are the only club to have won all five of their opening Conference League matches this season. This impressive form has seen them qualify directly for the round of 16 with one match to spare.
Not only playing well in the continental arena, The Blues' form is also extremely stable in all arenas. At the moment, coach Enzo Maresca's team is unbeaten in 10 consecutive matches (winning 8 matches).
Meanwhile, Shamrock have also performed quite well in the Conference League this season with a record of 3 wins, 2 draws and currently ranked 6th. The Irish representative will certainly at least make it to the knockout round. And if they want to win a ticket straight to the round of 16 without having to rely on the results of other matches, they need to beat Chelsea.
Obviously, this is a really big challenge for Shamrock. Although the London representative will almost certainly field young players and reserves because this is just a formality match, they are still of a different level compared to Shamrock. It is likely that Enzo Maresca's team will complete the League Phase with 6 wins out of 6.
In terms of head-to-head record, Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers will have their first encounter with each other in history.
Christopher Nkunku has scored five goals in four Europa Conference League appearances this season and the French striker will be hoping to continue his fine form against Shamrock Rovers.
Meanwhile, Johnny Kenny has scored in each of his last four Europa Conference League appearances. The Shamrock Rovers striker promises to cause plenty of trouble at Stamford Bridge.
Human resources situation
As with other Europa Conference League fixtures this season, Chelsea's Maresca are expected to field a reserve team.
On the other side of the front line, Shamrock Rovers will once again be unable to have the services of Rory Gaffney at Stamford Bridge.
Expected lineup:
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Disasi, Dewsbury-Hall, Rak-Sakyi, Veiga, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku, George, Guiu.
Shamrock Rovers: Pohls, Cleary, Lopes, Grace, Burns, Watts, O'Neill, Poom, Honohan, Kenny, Farrugia.
The match between Chelsea and Shamrock takes place at 3:00 a.m. on December 20 (Vietnam time).
