Chelsea vs FC Noah, UEFA Conference League: Preview, team news, how to watch

Of the 36 teams that qualified for the league stage of the UEFA Conference League, Chelsea had the highest UEFA coefficient. The lowest value was recorded by tonight's opponent, FC Noah. I would suspect that by the time UEFA next tallies up they will have already improved, considering they successfully got through four (4!) rounds of qualifying games to get here (including a win via AEK Athens). .

Contrary to the usual naming, FC Noah is not based in the city of Noah. Or the city. Or the district. There is no city of Noah! Or city or district. They were initially called FC Artsakh. Which isn't a city either! However, it is a region (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh), sometimes autonomous, sometimes not (not currently). Serj has a song for it.

Anyway, that's a bit heavy-handed, so let's go biblical instead.

FC Noah was only founded in 2017 and got its name from the biblical character who we learn loaded two of each animal onto his big ol' Boaty McBoatface and saved them from a big ol' Floody McFloodface. As the water receded, taking all the sinners and VAR with it, Boaty The Ark got stuck on Mount Ararat, the national symbol of Armenia, but which is actually located in Türkiye – the matter is complicated.

So FC Noah. A bit like a nomadic existence, but with the ambition to put down roots and grow. And they are ready to “park” the ark exactly where the buses once proudly parked and be the David to our Goliath. That would certainly be one for the UEFA book!

Date/Time: Thursday 7 November 2024, 8:00 p.m. GMT; 3:00 p.m. EST; 1:30 AM IST (Next Day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6 – the subway strike has been called off!
Referee: Christian-Petru Ciochirca (on the field); Alan Kijas (VAR)
Forecast: It's starting to cool down, but hopefully it's just the weather

On TV: TNT Sports 1 (UK); none (USA); Sony TEN 2 (India); SuperSport MaXimo 2 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Discovery+ (UK); Paramount+ (U.S.); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now (NGA)

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea team news: We saw some drama in the early rounds of the “league phases” of the Champions League and Europa League, but so far the Conference League has been relatively drama-free. Chelsea are at the top after the first two rounds, while eight other teams also have perfect records. As a reminder, the top 8 go straight to the round of 16. (The next 16 have the additional knockout round.) A win here and we'd be pretty sure we'd at least get into that extra knockout .-Round advance.

Since Cole Palmer (as well as Wesley Fofana and Roméo Lavia) are not eligible to play, the only injury of particular significance is that Jadon Sancho is out again due to illness. The rest of the 'B' team and perhaps a few more academy players should still take care of business without any problem (unlike against Newcastle in our League Cup exit last week).

“Everyone against us wants the game. We have to be ready tactically but also mentally.”

“(In their domestic league) Noah plays in different forms, so we don't know how they will come here and play. We're trying to be ready. In today's football you can find a good player, a good team, a good manager everywhere, not just in the most important league in Europe or the world. In a country like this you can find important things and there are certainly some good players.”

-Enzo Maresca; Source: Football.London

Photo by Domenic Aquilina/NurPhoto via Getty Images

FC Noah team news: Noah finished second in the league last season behind FC Pyunik, but both ended up qualifying for the Conference League, where Noah was successful and Pyunik failed at the final hurdle. This will undoubtedly be the biggest game of Noah's short existence as a professional club.

Their head coach is the experienced Rui Mota, who spent a decade working as an assistant at various clubs, mainly in Portugal but also across Europe (including, for example, SC Braga and Standard Liège) before taking on the role of manager at the start of this calendar year at FC Dila (in Georgia) before taking the job with Noah in July.

Despite having several games in hand, they are currently only fourth in the 11-team Armenian top league. However, they have the weakest defense in the division and have only conceded one goal at home in their five UEFA games this season. However, things looked a little different away from home, including the 1-0 defeat against Rapid Vienna two weeks ago. (On matchday one they beat Mladá Boleslav of the Czech Republic 2-0 at home.)

Striker Gonçalo Gregório is the biggest goal threat with 12 out of 19 appearances in all competitions.

“Participation in the Conference League is a highlight for the club to present itself to European football, because now everyone knows who Noah is. The Chelsea game is a special moment because it means playing against one of the best teams in European football. It's an honor to have this game. It’s a very special game for us, for Armenian football, for our fans, for our club.”

-Rui Mota; Source: BBC

Previously: This is our first meeting with FC Noah; In fact, it was the first meeting with a team from Armenia.