Chelsea already facing Conference League nightmare as fixture moved 770 miles to location near Chinese border with freezing temperatures

Chelsea have been handed a nightmare they could probably do without for their UEFA Conference League campaign after one of their games was moved hundreds of miles away from its original venue.

Enzo Maresca's side have had an indifferent start to their Premier League season with a win, a draw and a defeat so far placing them 11th in the table, and are back in action on Saturday evening away to Bournemouth.

The Stamford Bridge outfit have already begun their European campaign, having beaten Swiss side Servette in their Conference League play-off to reach the competition's main phase.

Chelsea had been due to play in the Europa League thanks to their sixth-placed finish last season, only to be demoted to the Conference League when eighth-placed Manchester United won the FA Cup.

Chelsea begin the league stage at the start of October when they host Belgian side Gent at Stamford Bridge, before travelling to Greece to take on Panathinaikos later that month.

Armenian team Noah travel to take on Chelsea in early November, before the Blues travel to Germany towards the end of the month to take on Heidenheim.

Chelsea's final Conference League game in the competition's first main phase is at Stamford Bridge when they host Shamrock Rovers in the week before Christmas.

However, it is their penultimate league-stage fixture in December which has recently been subject to a fixture change and could present issues for Maresca's men for a few good reasons.

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Chelsea will travel to Kazakhstan for a clash against Astana on Thursday, December 12 and had been due to play the game at the club's Astana Arena.

However, the Sun reports that renovation work is taking place at the ground and it means the game will now take place hundreds of miles away on the other side of the nation.

The Almaty Ortalyk Stadion in Almaty will now host the encounter, which is on the border with Kyrgyzstan and is around 250 miles away from China.

Given that the game will be taking place in mid-December, it will be winter and raises the prospect that the game could be played in sub-zero temperatures, with thermometers said to be showing between two and minus seven degrees celsius at that particular time of the year.

Chelsea are currently due to be playing Brentford at Stamford Bridge at 3pm on Saturday, December 14, but that game will almost certainly be moved as a result, as is common with European matches which take place on Thursdays.

But any Chelsea fans heading out to Kazakhstan will probably need to pack their big coat and thermals, it's safe to say.