Our penultimate match in the “league phase” of our first, and hopefully only ever UEFA Conference League campaign sees us travel to the farthest reaches of what UEFA define as “Europe”, all the way to eastern regions of Kazakhstan,

Chelsea make the trip to Kazakhstan to face FC Astana in the Conference League on Thursday night. Enzo Maresca's side are on the verge of mathematically ensuring they progress into the last-16 of the competition and one step closer to May's final in Poland.

While the festive period can take a toll on teams, Chelsea's decision to field almost separate squads for Conference League play vs Premier League play will ensure that everyone is as fresh as possible for competing on both fronts.