Having secured a handy 2-0 advantage in the first match, the Blues must avoid defeat by two or more goals to enter the competition proper.

This is the club’s fourth competitive visit to Switzerland. We have won one (Basel, April 2013) and lost two (St Gallen, September 2000 and Basel, November 2013) of the previous three.

It is also Chelsea’s sixth UEFA play-off game since 1999 and we are yet to concede in any such fixture home or away. The previous ties came in the Champions League.

The Blues arrive on the back of a confidence-boosting 6-2 league victory at Wolves’ stadium, our highest ever score there. Remarkably, until that result no incoming Premier League coach had ever won a first away trip with his team scoring six goals.

Enzo Maresca has now pocketed successive wins across all competitions but the Italian has still expressed concern about carelessness on the ball – also evident during last Thursday’s proceedings.

‘We're still alive,’ was Genevese goalie Jeremy Frick’s takeaway from Stamford Bridge, and the Swiss Cup winners have enjoyed a free week to rest and prepare for tonight’s sold-out meeting at Stade de Geneve. However, they were thrashed 6-0 last time out there by Super League rivals Basel.

Chelsea will be determined to claim top-seeding in Friday’s six-match league phase draw, which starts around 1.30pm UK time. In more of an algorithm than a draw, a computer will randomly draw one opponent from each of the six pots, ranked according to their UEFA coefficient, and designate three of them hosts and three visitors.

Team news

We started to see the Enzo Maresca method sparkle at Molineux but, with a big derby to come on Sunday, a changed starting XI is likely tonight in Geneva.

Against Wolverhampton Wanderers we saw the swift, bold passing from deep and efficiency in front of goal Maresca craves – the Londoners recorded 14 shots, eight of them on target.

Defending in transition and at set-plays are areas he is working to improve, but that morale-boosting bonanza could help speed things along. The Italian has also assured fans complacency will not endanger European progress, despite personnel changes this evening.

Maresca's system clearly suits many of our attacking players, especially PFA Young Player of the Year Cole Palmer. Not since Mr Magic Hat himself, Cesc Fabregas, had a Blues player managed three assists in one league game.

Leading scorer Noni Madueke built strongly on his strike in the first leg of this tie and looks unplayable at the moment – defenders hate tricky players who can go either side.

Pedro Neto handed an astute assist to returning goalscorer Joao Felix – but neither in that developing Portuguese partnership will be involved tonight. Joao Felix was signed too late to be included in our squad for this tie and, along with Malo Gusto, Neto has been rested.

Moises Caicedo seems none the worse for a bad tackle at Molineux but, with Romeo Lavia sidelined and Enzo Fernandez possibly adopting a deeper role, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall may step into the fray.

Marc Guiu, whose first-leg endeavour was not rewarded with a goal, could start up front again, while goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen could retain the gloves after his clean sheet in London.

The history

Although Chelsea have visited Servette’s ground twice on a friendly basis, this is our first competitive match in Geneva.

The two sides met in the first leg of this Conference League qualifying tie last Thursday at Stamford Bridge, the hosts sealing a 2-0 win despite several openings for the Swiss.

This is our third away match in a European play-off setting, the first two coming in the Champions League. The Londoners went through with a 0-0 draw at Skonto Riga (3-0 on aggregate) in August 1999, and the same month in 2003 brought a 2-0 first-leg success at Zilina.

Tonight we aim to progress to the main UEFA competition via the qualifying rounds for the third time in a row.

Know this…

Chelsea last played at Servette 70 years ago, in a 1-0 friendly defeat on 31 January 1954.

Should the Blues progress tonight, the first league phase fixture will be our 300th European match across six different competitions.

Introduced in 2020/21, the Conference League has been claimed by three teams – Roma, West Ham and current holders Olympiacos. The elegant 57.5cm Conference League trophy was created by Pentagram Design of Notting Hill, three miles up the road from Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s win on Sunday was our biggest on the road since a 6-0 win at Southampton in April 2022, and the first time in 17 years Wolverhampton had shipped six goals. At Molineux, Joao Felix became the 14th player to return and play for the Blues, and the fourth to score on his ‘second debut’ after Alec Cheyne (1934), Peter Osgood (1978) and Romelu Lukaku (2021).

Madueke’s first treble for the club (at 13 minutes and 59 seconds our fastest ever) means the Londoners have recorded 23 individual hat-trick scorers in the Premier League – more than any rival. Palmer became only the fifth player to assist a team-mate for each goal in a Premier League hat-trick and the third away from home.

Assisted Premier League hat-tricks

1995 - Mike Newell for Alan Shearer, Blackburn Rovers 5-1 Coventry City
1995 - Stan Collymore for Robbie Fowler, Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal
2003 - Thierry Henry for Freddie Ljungberg, Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal
2020 - Harry Kane for Son Heung-Min, Southampton 2-5 Tottenham Hotspur
2024 - Cole Palmer for Noni Madueke, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-6 Chelsea