Chelsea v Gent: How to watch, TV channel, kick-off time, head-to-head stats and team news

Chelsea kick off their UEFA Conference League campaign at home to Gent and the Blues will be expected to cruise to victory against their Belgian visitors at Stamford Bridge.

Blues boss Enzo Maresca has made a few surprise omissions to his European squad, none more so than talisman Cole Palmer, but they should still have too much quality for most of their opponents in this competition.

Chelsea are on a roll under Maresca, with Saturday’s 4-2 beating of Brighton stretching their winning run to four - they are fourth in the Premier League, within two points of leaders Liverpool.

Gent, meanwhile, are third in the Belgian top-flight and are six points behind pace-setters Genk.

The Belgian side were quarter-finalists in the UEFA Conference League in 2022–23, where they suffered a 5-2 aggregate defeat to West Ham, highlighting the difficulty they may face on their return to London.

How to watch Chelsea v Gent and TV channel

Chelsea v Gent is available to watch live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.

Chelsea v Gent kick-off time, date and venue

Chelsea v Gent will kick-off at 20:00 BST on Thursday 3rd October and is being played at Stamford Bridge in London, England.

Chelsea v Gent stats and head-to-head record (H2H)

Chelsea have never faced Gent competitively before and the Blues will be full of confidence following their four-game winning streak.

Maresca’s men have lost only one of their last eight matches in all competitions and five of their last seven games have gone over 2.5 goals.

Chelsea have won 11 of their last 14 competitive games at Stamford Bridge, but only five of those victories were recorded to nil.

Gent have failed to win on three of their last five away trips, losing at Sporting Charleroi and Cercle Brugge.

Four of Gent’s last five matches have featured three or more goals.

Chelsea v Gent team news

Chelsea team news

Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia have all been left out of Chelsea's squad for the UEFA Conference League, while Reece James remains the only player sidelined with injury.

Gent team news

The visitors will be without the experienced Sven Kums, while new signing Aime Omgba is still to make his debut due to injury, having joined from NAC Breda.

Andrew Hjulsager is doubtful, but former MK Dons striker Max Dean and Andri Gudjohnsen - son of ex-Chelsea striker Eidur - are expected to feature.