Conference League: Chelsea favoured, but watch out for Fiorentina and Real Betis | OneFootball

The Conference League is the third Uefa competition for relevance. Founded in 2021, it is the youngest European football tournament and it works as a league for teams whose level is lower than the quality of the sides playing in the Champions League and do not manage to qualify for the Europa League. Even if the majority of the teams competing in the Conference are usually mid-table sides, we seldom find intriguing exceptions. This is the case this year, with Chelsea playing in the tournament and acting as the clear frontrunner for the title.

The Blues enter this season’s Conference League as the clear and obvious favourites, thanks to a formidable squad and extensive experience in European competitions. However, the path to victory is far from guaranteed, with teams like Fiorentina and Real Betis poised to challenge the Londoners’ dominance. Insights into key fixtures, along with tips for football matches, can be valuable tools for better understanding while following the progress of the competition. For example, the comparison site Oddschecker is a safe harbour to get the latest news, odds and forecasts regarding upcoming fixtures in the Conference League or the other European football tournaments and could be a useful resource in this respect for fans.

How is it looking for Chelsea in the Conference League

To the surprise of nobody, at the moment, Chelsea is dominating the competition. They got all the points available in the first five games they played in the tournament and are looking at everyone else from the top of the table. The data tells everything about their dominance in the Conference league: the Blues allowed 4 goals and scored 21 of their own, for a solid 17 in goals difference. This number tells us about a team which is way superior to its opponents in this tournament. In the last matchday, they defeated Astana without any issue, and head coach Enzo Maresca was impressed by the attitude of his young players in Kazakhstan. In the press conference, after the win, he praised Samuel Rak-Sakyi, Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George.

At the moment, the surprise in the Conference League table is a Portuguese side, Vitoria Guimarães. Vitoria is playing smoothly and confidently. After all, it is a team which has already played in the Europa League and has the quality needed to fit in European tournaments. The Portuguese side, however, is not one of the favourites to triumph. The bookmakers tend to prefer Fiorentina, Real Betis or even Heidenheim.

Who can really bother Chelsea?

Betis Sevilla is a true long shot to win the Conference League. They are way behind schedule at the moment, right in the middle of the table with only 7 points won after 5 matches. Obviously, this is not the right pace to lift the silverware. The Spanish team lost to Legia Varsavia and Mladà Boleslav. In October, they drew with Copenhagen. Real Betis left 8 points in its campaign so far, clearly too much to stay competitive in a league where a team is obviously the strongest, perfectly capable of winning each and every game.

Right now, the German side isn’t impressing anyone at all. Heidenheim lost its latest match against Istanbul Basaksehir after losing to Chelsea in the matchday before. Of course, the team deserved more in both matches but football clubs need to win to stay relevant in European competitions: these tournaments are a matter of results, not of luck. Heidenheim can turn its season around in the remaining matches (they still have to play three games and can chase the qualification in the next round since they have already obtained 9 points) but the other favourites are doing better.

Fiorentina is in quite good shape. The Viola dominated their match against an undermanned LASK Linz, winning by 7-0 and keeping the pace of Chelsea and Vitoria. The Italians are one of the sides occupying the third spot in the table and are looking forward to their showdown against Guimarães. Fiorentina won all of its European games, except for the match against Apoel, on the 7th of November. Should they win their next fixture in Portugal, we may very well consider them the clear rivals to Chelsea dominance in the Conference League.