Chelsea vs Legia Warsaw: Preview, predictions and lineups
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Chelsea are hoping to ease into the Conference League semi-finals when they welcome Legia Warsaw to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.
As the majority projected, the Blues have coasted through the competition up to this point and are the heavy favourites to go all the way. A 3-0 victory in Poland last week means Enzo Maresca’s side have one foot in the next round, where either Djugarden or Rapid Vienna await.
While the Conference League has been a breeze, Chelsea haven’t exactly sparkled in the Premier League as of late, and some supporters are already growing tired of Maresca’s supposedly uninspiring principles. A 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town on Sunday saw the Blues fall to sixth in the league table.
Legia Warsaw were Poland’s dominant force in the 2010s, but they’re poised to go a fourth-straight season without a league title in 2024/25. Legia are fifth in the Ekstraklasa and are surely heading out of Europe after Thursday’s trip to London. They do have a domestic cup final to win at the start of May, however.
Here is 90min’s guide to the clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea vs Legia Warsaw head-to-head record (all games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Chelsea |
Legia Warsaw |
|---|---|
|
Chelsea 2-2 Ipswich – 13/04/25 |
Legia Warsaw 0-1 Jagiellonia Białystok – 13/04/25 |
|
Legia Warsaw 0-3 Chelsea – 10/04/25 |
Legia Warsaw 0-3 Chelsea – 10/04/25 |
|
Brentford 0-0 Chelsea – 06/04/25 |
Gornik 1-2 Legia Warsaw – 06/04/25 |
|
Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham – 03/04/25 |
Ruch Chorzow 0-5 Legia Warsaw – 02/04/25 |
|
Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea – 16/03/25 |
Legia Warsaw 0-0 Pogon – 28/03/25 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
discovery+, discovery+ App, TNT Sports 4 |
|
United States |
Paramount+ |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
Maresca has a trip across west London to consider this weekend with Chelsea needing to return to winning ways in the Premier League after back-to-back draws. Their comfort in this tie means we’ll see plenty of rotation on Thursday night.
The likes of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill and Moises Caicedo will all drop out. Cobham starlets Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George are certainties to start, while 17-year-old Shim Mheuka could get the nod up top with Marc Guiu still out injured.
Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia are also sidelined for the Blues.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Legia (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Acheampong, Chalobah, Badiashile, Gusto; James, Dewsbury-Hall; Sancho, Nkunku, George; Mheuka.
Ruben Vinagre was hardly a household Premier League name, but he at least has experience of playing in England. The full-back spent several years at Wolves before briefly representing Everton.
The Portuguese will start at left-back for the visitors, who will also welcome back Jan Ziolkowski and Artur Jedrzejczyk from suspensions. The pair missed last week’s first leg.
Legia are without the unregistered Ilya Shkurin, while Marc Gual and Bartosz Kapustka are injury doubts.
Legia predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Tobiasz; Wszolek, Ziolkowski, Jedrzejczyk, Vinagre; Goncalves, Augustyniak, Bichakhchyan; Chodyna, Pekhart, Urbanski.
The Cobham starlets will be out to impress on Thursday against considerably inferior opposition. While Chelsea required Noni Madueke to inspire them to victory in the Polish capital, the gulf in quality between the two sides was distinct in the second period.
Such superiority will once again be evident in west London, with the hosts poised to canter to another Conference League victory and book their place in the semi-finals without breaking a sweat.
Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Legia Warsaw
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