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Chelsea’s season has hope once more. The condensed nature of the Premier League table means that Enzo Maresca is only two games away from being 10th again, but Stamford Bridge has reason for optimism....READ THE FULL CONTENT FROM THE SOURCE | READ THE FULL CONTENT FROM THE SOURCE
After beating Southampton 4-0, and with a full week of rest before the return of Conference League football before another home match against relegation-bound Leicester City, Chelsea are looking up. They know that full confidence will be needed heading into an away trip to Arsenal before the international break.
That is a game of serious significance because, with Mikel Arteta’s side now 13 points behind Liverpool in the title race – albeit having played a game less – they may well start to look over their shoulders. A visit to Old Trafford is next up in the league for Arsenal.
It is feasible, therefore, that Chelsea gain on Arsenal before the visit to north London. It is taking a step into the hypothetical but the gap between the two sides could be as little as one point by the next set of international matches.
For Chelsea, this is plenty to get excited about as they try to hold off Newcastle United, Bournemouth, Brighton, Fulham, and Aston Villa in the hunt for a top four place. Only five points separate seven teams with six between eight going up to Nottingham Forest.
If Maresca is able to guide his team through the next two weeks then he will have lots to fight for. Coming out the other side and the options he has available are expected to be be markedly different as well.
Currently, Maresca is without seven first-team players. At least four of those have a strong argument to say they are the starters in their position, showing just what Maresca has been working with across recent weeks.
The good news is that they may well all be set for a return. “We can have most of the players back after the international break, maybe all of them,” said Maresca last week. “And it can be a big boost for us.”
A big boost indeed. Chelsea have been without Nicolas Jackson, the most costly of the injuries, for only a fortnight but he has left no senior replacement in the squad. Pedro Neto has started to fill in as an unorthodox No.9 and has shown signs of being more than good enough to play the role on a short-term basis.
Jackson left a hole which was exposed in the back-to-back defeats at Brighton earlier this month, though, and made many realise why is so valuable even when not scoring. His return should breath new life into the squad and also Cole Palmer, who has missed his co-conspirator a lot of late.
Wesley Fofana has been out since early December but was on the bench against Southampton on Tuesday. Maresca had suggested that his injury could be a season-ending one but there are still three months left to play and he is on course to feature.
The defender is Chelsea’s quickest and most athletic. He offers a different style at the back, dribbling out on the ball and leaping high to win it in the air. When he is slowly worked in alongside Levi Colwill it will be a timely introduction.
Chelsea players Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia
Chelsea have struggled without Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana
The same goes for Benoit Badiashile. He is slightly behind Fofana in his recovery but should be back in mid-March. The Frenchman is mainly a rotation option but will act as cover for Colwill. The Conference League is an ideal place for him to get back up to speed.
Trevoh Chalobah is the most recent casualty. He picked up a knock less than 10 minutes in against Aston Villa and may not return before the break. Maresca isn’t worried about losing him for an extended period, though, and has Tosin Adarabioyo and Josh Acheampong also able to operate at right centre-back.
Further forward and Romeo Lavia is still waiting to get back to action. Another frustrating season has limited him to just 12 appearances in all competitions with the last one being cut short after an hour against Bournemouth in early January.
Lavia is another who will need to be carefully managed in order to have a strong end to the season but both Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez will be relieved to see him in the fold after carrying the weight of the midfield on their shoulders.
In attack, Noni Madueke’s absence and the movement of Neto has seen Christopher Nkunku take on a variety of responsibilities. He started to look more like himself against Southampton but Chelsea remain a more dangerous outfit with Madueke on the right rather than Jadon Sancho.
Madueke will not be going away with England over the break which will be a personal blow as he tries to impress Thomas Tuchel. He will aim to be in Maresca’s first XI again before long though with Palmer again missing the attacking linkup that the pair have shown.
Then finally, the return of the Conference League will come too soon for Marc Guiu but if Chelsea progress, as expected, into the quarter-finals, he will have Thursday nights to look forward to. Guiu suffered an injury in the same game as Jackson, on transfer deadline day (February 3) and has been out ever since.
He is yet to start a league game but is the only other natural centre-forward in the group and still has a part to play. Adding all of these names into the mix for Maresca will provide him with key options at a crucial time...CONTINUE THE FULL READING HERE:
