Djurgården vs Chelsea: Preview, prediction, team news and lineups

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·30. April 2025

Djurgården vs Chelsea: Preview, prediction, team news and lineups

Chelsea have never lost any of their eight meetings with Swedish opposition, winning five of them; Djurgårdens' sole previous encounter against an English club came in the first round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1964, smashed 7-2 on aggregate by Manchester United.

Djurgården vs Chelsea preview

Chelsea continue to be massive favourites to be crowned Conference League winner in Wrocław in just 27 nights time, so will they put one foot in the final with a win in Southern Stockholm? The Blues' run of nine successive victories in this competition actually came to an end a fortnight ago, albeit to little consequence.

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Having won 3-0 at Stadion Wojska Polskiego, a 2-1 defeat when Legia Warszawa visited Stamford Bridge mattered not, with Enzo Maresca's team never in danger of elimination.

In the Premier League, Chelsea climbed up to fifth on Saturday, thereby occupying the final Champions League spot, thanks to a 1-0 win over Everton; Nicolas Jackson the only scorer.

However, the Blues' remaining fixtures could hardly be tougher, with Liverpool (H), Newcastle (A), Man United (H) and Nottingham Forest (A) their run-in. Nevertheless, even with the newly-crowned champions set to visit West London on Sunday, they'll want to claim a first-leg advantage at Stockholmsarenan.

As for Djurgårdens, in complete contrast to their visitors, no one could've expected them to reach the semi-finals. Prior to this season, the Blue Stripes' best-ever run on the continent was reaching the European Cup Final in 1955/56, the inaugural edition of the competition, dumped out by Hibs in the quarter-finals.

Last summer, they qualified for only a second-ever UEFA group stage, thanks to wins over Progrès Niederkorn, Ilves and then Maribor, before finishing fifth in the gigantic league table, beaten only once, this by Vitória de Guimarães, notably battling to a 1-0 victory over The New Saints in Shrewsbury, set for a rather more high-profile visit to England next Thursday.

In the knockouts, Jani Honkavaara's team swatted aside Pafos in the round of 16, before ousting Rapid Wien in the last eight, actually beaten 1-0 at home, before a famous 4-1 victory in the Austrian capital, with Tobias Gulliksen scoring twice in extra time at Weststadion.

Meantime, just six matches into the new Allsvenskan season, Djurgårdens are down in tenth, with their weekend clash against Brommapojkarna postponed, to help them focus on this tie. Thus, this is Djurgårdens' biggest European night for seven decades, so can they upset the odds and defeat Chelsea in Stockholm?

Djurgården vs Chelsea head-to-head record

These two clubs have never previously met.

Djurgården team news

Nino Žugelj is sidelined, after suffering a rather nasty foot injury in the previous round, while Keita Kosugi and Oskar Fallenius are also both doubts, after they too were forced off injured during that win in Vienna. Goalkeeper Jacob Rinne was amongst those rested by Jani Honkavaara for last Thursday's 1-0 win over Östers, but all the regulars will return here.

Djurgården predicted lineup vs Chelsea: (4-2-3-1): Rinne; Ståhl, Une, Danielson, Bergh; Stensson, Finndell, Haarala, Gulliksen, Priske; Nguen.

Djurgården player to watch vs Chelsea

Tobias Gulliksen scored twice during the quarter-final second leg to overcome Rapid Vienna, taking his tally to four in the Conference League, previously on target against Panathinaikos and The New Saints.

Chelsea team news

Enzo Maresca has started to pick stronger sides as this competition has progressed, with Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson both starting the home game against Legia Warsaw, so will we see this duo in from the start in Stockholm?

Wesley Fofana and Marc Guiu remain sidelined, but Conference League regulars Filip Jörgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoît Badiashile, Josh Acheampong, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Tyrique George and Christopher Nkunku will be amongst those who return. Lastly, Roméo Lavia started against Everton, doing so for the first time since January due to injury, although he won't see more minutes here, as he was not included in the UEFA squad. .

Chelsea predicted lineup vs Djurgården: (4-2-3-1): Jörgensen; Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Dewsbury-Hall, Sancho, Palmer, George; Nkunku.