Chelsea vs Real Betis in Conference League final
Chelsea Football Newsletter
Your matchday briefing on Chelsea, featuring team news and expert analysis from Malik Ouzia
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Chelsea have been boosted by the return to fitness of Nicolas Jackson as they look to crown their season with silverware in tonight’s Conference League final against Real Betis.
Jackson has missed the last two Premier League games through suspension after being sent off in the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle earlier this month.
Despite the absence of their first-choice centre-forward, however, Chelsea beat both Manchester United and Nottingham Forest to secure a fourth-place finish and return to the Champions League next season.
Still, Jackson appears likely to come back into the side to lead the line, with Maresca concerned about the tight turnaround from Sunday’s trip to the City Ground. Betis, by contrast, played their final LaLiga game almost 48 hours earlier on Friday night against Valencia.
Maresca has already confirmed that Filip Jorgensen will replace Robert Sanchez in goal for Chelsea, having played all but one of the games in this competition so far.
Trevoh Chalobah could come back into the defence having been unlucky to lose his place in the league over the last fortnight.
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Maresca has also tended to be cautious with Reece James’s workload and it remains to be seen whether the club captain will start consecutive games in the space of three days. If not, Malo Gusto could come in at right-back.
Marc Guiu, who was the competition’s top scorer during the league phase, returned to the matchday squad against Forest, having been sidelined since early February through injury. Christopher Nkunku has also been included in the travelling squad after a month out.
Romeo Lavia is ineligible having been left out of Chelsea’s European squad to manage his workload.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson
Injured: Fofana, Anselmino, Kellyman
Unavailable: Mudryk
Ineligible: Lavia
Time and date: 8pm BST on Wednesday May 28, 2025
Venue: Stadion Miejski, Wroclaw (Poland)
How to watch: TNT Sports
Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
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