Conference League favorites Chelsea welcome competition debutants FC Noah to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.

In a significant event for the young Armenian club, this will be their first trip to England, but they will face a Chelsea side that has appeared dominant on the continent so far.

In the first two matchdays of this competition, Chelsea faced two clubs with serious ambitions of making progress in Europe this season, and they succeeded in defeating both comfortably. Gent and Panathinaikos were dispatched with ease.

Enzo Maresca's makeshift cup team scored four goals in each of these victories, which explains why, out of the nine teams that won their opening matches in the Conference League, they have the best goal difference and currently sit at the top of the standings.

Despite the final in Wroclaw being at least 11 games away, Chelsea is almost favored by the bookmakers to win the competition this season. If they succeed, they would become the first team to win all four of UEFA's major club competitions, including the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup.

Chelsea's upcoming opponents are the lowest-ranked team they will face in the league phase, so a straightforward match is anticipated. Following this, they will face two challenging away trips.

Heidenheim are newcomers in the Bundesliga but remain competitive. However, the long journey to the freezing-cold city of Astana in Kazakhstan in mid-December will be a challenge for Maresca.

As has been true in all of Chelsea's cup matches so far, the team that takes the field today will be very different from the one that drew 1-1 at Old Trafford against Manchester United on Sunday.

With a clash against London rivals Arsenal to come at the weekend, all of the Blues' key players will be kept fresh as they seek to extend their lead over the Gunners to three points with a win, which would also keep them in the Premier League's top four.

For last season's Armenian Premier League runners-up, this is the fixture they all dreamed of before the draw was made in August, and they will now get the opportunity to face the two-time Champions League winners.

Founded in 2017 and named after the biblical figure, Noah is the youngest team competing in Europe this season. 

They have made history by becoming the first club to progress from the first qualifying round to this stage of the Conference League in their brief history.

In their previous attempts in European competitions, Noah fell at the first hurdle. 

However, after defeating Shkendija both at home and away in the first round, and then dominating Sliema Wanderers with a 7-0 victory in the following round, their belief in success began to grow.

Noah entered the matchup as significant underdogs against the Greek giants AEK Athens. However, after an impressive 3-1 victory at home, Rui Mota's team managed to hold on and progress on aggregate. They went on to repeat this performance against Ruzomberok in the playoffs.

Despite their success, their away form in Europe raises concerns. They only managed a draw in Malta against Sliema and have lost three consecutive matches since, including their trip to Rapid Vienna on matchday two.

The opening-day win against Mlada Boleslav was a historic moment for the team and keeps them in qualifying positions as they head into matchday three.

Four straight wins domestically with 14 goals scored means they are in a confident mood at present, but there will be an admission that this trip to London will almost certainly end in defeat, with upcoming home games against Vikingur and APOEL likely to be targeted to get them over the line for an unlikely knockout progression.

Team News 
Eleven changes are on the cards once again for Chelsea in a cup competition, and given the level of opposition, Maresca could even provide some youngsters with more minutes.

Cole Palmer has a slight issue with his knee after the rash challenge on him by Lisandro Martinez at the weekend, but he is not in Chelsea's European squad anyway, so will be able to rest up ahead of the visit of Arsenal at the weekend.

Pedro Neto's form in the cups has seen him move into the Premier League XI, while Jadon Sancho has been recovering from illness but will not be ready to play here, so Carney Chukwuemeka will hope for a rare start after coming on in their last European outing.

Chelsea's possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; Renato Veiga, Disasi, Badiashile, Cucurella; Enzo, Dewsbury-Hall; Chukwuemeka, Joao Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku

Prediction 

We predict: Chelsea 3-0 FC Noah.

This matchup looks like one of the biggest mismatches in European competition this season. However, a decisive victory is not guaranteed, as Noah has shown they can compete and defend effectively.

Chelsea has not kept a clean sheet since their 5-0 victory over League Two's Barrow nine matches ago. Although the Armenian team has had a promising start, it is unlikely they will challenge the home side significantly here.