Even though the Conference League squad is missing key players such as Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea easily won their first four games in the competition, scoring 18 goals in those four games.
They also rank high in the Premier League, just four points behind the leaders Liverpoolgiving a manager Enzo Maresca a better start than many could imagine.
His team will face Astana from Kazakhstan in the next Conference League match next Thursday at 3:30 p.m. – but why such a strange start time?
Why does Chelsea start the match at 3:30 p.m.?
The Conference League has always given Chelsea the opportunity to play against less traditional European teams. So far, they have defeated teams from Switzerland, Belgium, Greece and Armenia. Then departure to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
Chelsea will play in Almaty, approximately 1,200 km from Astana, due to renovation works at Astana’s current stadium. This means that local time is five hours ahead of English time, so the match will start at 8.30pm local time, hence the odd 3.30pm kick-off time for the England players.
Chelsea will face an eight-hour flight to the city of Almaty, which will be one of the longest away trips in Europe.
As players travel more than 6,000 kilometers, they will encounter difficult winter conditions, which will also impact the start time.
Temperatures are expected to reach as low as -15 degrees. This means the match could not be moved to a later kick-off time, a more traditional European kick-off time in London, as temperatures would continue to drop overnight.
Despite the absence of star player Cole Palmer, who was placed in the spot currently third in FourFourTwo magazine’s list of the best attacking midfielders in the worldChelsea’s incredible squad depth allows them to bring players such as Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku and Enzo Fernandez into the conference league.
While frosty conditions may be a hindrance for Chelsea, Astana are 23rd in the Conference League table after winning just one match, suggesting that anything other than a win for Maresca’s side would be a poor performance.
