Chelsea vs Djurgården preview, H2H, team news, line-ups, and prediction

Chelsea will hope to secure a spot for the 2025 UEFA Conference League final at Stadion Wrocław in Wrocław, Poland, when they host Swedish side Djurgården in the second-leg semi-final clash at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.

The Blues are the frontrunners to win the UEFA Conference League this season and are within touching distance of the final.

The West London outfit are on a historic quest to become the first club to win the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League titles.

Since the group stage commenced, the Blues have emerged victorious in 12 of their 13 matches in the tournament—suffering just one loss. That defeat came in the second leg of their quarter-final against Legia Warsaw, although a 3-0 lead from the first leg had already given them control. They responded in style with a commanding 1-4 away victory in the opening leg of the semi-final.

First-half strikes from Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke set the tone for Chelsea, with substitute Nicolas Jackson coming off the bench to add two more, stretching the advantage to 4-0 before Isak Alemayehu’s late reply, which was unlikely to shift the momentum.

Chelsea fans will recall a similar scenario just weeks ago when they brought a three-goal cushion back to Stamford Bridge against Legia Warsaw. Although they lost on the night, progression into the next round was never in doubt. It’s no surprise then that Chelsea fans are already buying UEFA Conference League final tickets as it’s highly unlikely they’ll let slip their lead at home.

Morale in the home camp will undoubtedly be high, especially after recording four consecutive wins, the latest being an impressive 3-1 triumph over Premier League champions Liverpool—further solidifying their bid for Champions League qualification.

Enzo Maresca’s side, currently placed inside the top five ahead of their weekend trip to Newcastle United, are expected to keep much of their attention on the domestic front. The manager will look to navigate this second leg without complications.

Given how the first leg unfolded—and considering Chelsea have kept clean sheets in each of their previous three home fixtures against Swedish sides—everything points towards another routine outing at the Bridge.

Faced with the same scenario Legia encountered at Stamford Bridge, Djurgården will aim to deliver a commendable display and perhaps even claw back a result after the humbling experience they suffered on home turf last week.

The challenge ahead of Djurgården is enormous, yet the first leg showed they possess the tools to pose problems.

The Swedish club unsettled Chelsea’s backline during the early exchanges and later managed to pull a goal back in the second half, injecting a degree of unease into the contest.

Djurgården’s journey in the Europa Conference League has been commendable—ending the group stage in fifth place, which secured direct entry into the last 16. There, they overturned a 1-0 deficit to edge out Pafos 3-1 on aggregate, followed by a similar turnaround against Rapid Vienna in the quarter-finals after again losing the opening leg by a solitary goal.

However, Jani Honkavaara and his squad will focus primarily on correcting their sluggish opening to the Allsvenskan campaign, which is partly caused by their European commitments.

No Swedish side has ever reached 11 victories in a single European season, and achieving that feat here remains possible. Still, Honkavaara’s attention will likely be fixed on steering his team clear of the lower reaches of Sweden’s top division.

Their 1-1 draw with AIK on Sunday extended a worrying pattern—Djurgården have failed to win any of the three domestic fixtures played directly after European outings since their season began in March. So far, they’ve picked up just eight points from a maximum of 18 in the league.

Although Djurgården have managed to recover from first-leg setbacks in both the round of 16 and the quarter-finals en route to their maiden European semi-final, the 4-1 loss to a fluid and clinical Chelsea might be a deficit too steep for the Allsvenskan side to overcome.

Chelsea vs Djurgården match details

• Date: Thursday, 8th May
• Location: London, England
• Venue: Stamford Bridge
• Kick-off time: 08:00 PM GMT
• Tickets: Chelsea tickets can be purchased via the club or through a reputable reseller like Seatsnet.com

Match stats and head-to-head

• Chelsea’s 4-1 victory in Sweden marked the first-ever competitive clash between the two clubs.

• At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have only scored twice in their two Europa Conference League knockout home fixtures.

• Nicolas Jackson has netted three goals in as many appearances for Chelsea in this season’s competition.

• Djurgården are winless in all three league matches that followed a European outing since March, most recently drawing 1-1 with AIK.

• No Swedish club has ever recorded 11 European wins in a single season—Djurgården would make history with a win here.

• Chelsea have kept clean sheets in their last three home games against Swedish opponents.

• The Blues have triumphed in 12 of their 13 Conference League matches this season, with their only loss coming at home to Legia Warsaw.

• Enzo Maresca’s side will enter into the second leg riding a four-game winning streak across all competitions.

Team news

Maresca finds himself in a familiar position compared to the one he faced before the second leg versus Legia. Yet, despite fielding a strong starting eleven in that loss, he may consider making more changes this time, especially with a crucial fixture against Newcastle fast approaching.

Josh Acheampong was the only academy player in the starting lineup for the home tie against Legia, but Tyrique George could be handed a start in this encounter. At the same time, Shumaira Mheuka and Mathis Amougou will look to step up from the bench.

Christopher Nkunku has also joined Wesley Fofana and Marc Guiu on the injury list. Although Romeo Lavia is back in training, he hasn’t been included in the squad for the Conference League—so his return will likely be saved for the visit to St James’ Park.

As for Djurgården, they will again be without Filip Manojlović—their regular goalkeeper is not listed for European matches—and Malkolm Nilsson remains sidelined with an elbow issue, meaning Jacob Rinne is expected to continue in goal.

Zakaria Sawo, youngster Matias Siltanen, and veteran midfielder Albin Ekdal are also not part of the registered squad, while Honkavaara is contending with several other first-team injuries, forcing the club to name only seven substitutes instead of the maximum 12 in last week’s tie.

The list of unavailable players includes Patric Åslund, Oskar Fallenius, Nino Žugelj, Rasmus Schüller, and Piotr Johansson—bringing the total number of absentees into double digits for the trip to London.

Predicted starting lineup

Chelsea predicted starting lineup:

Jorgensen; Acheampong, Badiashile, Tosin, Gusto; James, Amougou, Dewsbury-Hall; Sancho, Mheuka, George

Djurgårdens predicted starting lineup:

Rinne; Stahl, Larsson, Danielson, Kosugi; Finndell, Stensson, Gulliksen; Haarala, Nguen, Priske.

Prediction

Chelsea’s home defeat to Legia Warsaw in the second leg of their quarter-final tie marked a significant low in an otherwise strong campaign, and Maresca will be keen to steer clear of another slip-up this time.

The odds appear to favour him, with Djurgården currently positioned 11th in Sweden’s Allsvenskan—having secured only two victories from their first five fixtures. Once a dominant force domestically with a title hat-trick between 2002 and 2005, they have lifted just one league trophy since, in 2019.

Known to their fans as the Iron Stoves, Djurgården are enjoying the most successful European run in their history, having fallen short of making last season’s competition after a qualifying loss to Luzern.

Although Maresca is likely to rotate the squad ahead of a challenging Premier League weekend, Chelsea’s superior quality should be enough to see them through to the final.

We’re predicting a 2-1 win for Chelsea.