Chelsea played the same team today as last week against Brighton – it’s been almost the same XI in the league all season for Enzo Maresca, in fact. He’s been lucky with injuries, but now things are starting to change.
Not only did we saw Noni Madueke and Levi Colwill leave the pitch looking hurt, we also saw two players pick up their 5th booking and trigger a suspension for our next game – a trip to Anfield in two weeks time. Both Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella will now miss that huge game after the international break.
That’s pretty brutal for this team, who have benefited so much from the exceptional continuity they’ve had so far this season. At least Enzo Maresca now has some time to work on a solution.
Maresca’s solutions to potential injuries and suspensions
We’d imagine that Renato Veiga will come into the team at left back, promoted from the B team. The issue there is he’s been called up for Portugal, so will only have a couple of days at best training with the first team.
To replace Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo can step in. He’s not been called up, so he has a good fortnight now to get settled in knowing he’s got the biggest game of his Blues career ahead of him now.
As for the injuries – neither looked too serious, but it’s hard to know until we hear more from Enzo Maresca after the game. Noni Madueke has a natural replacement in Pedro Neto. But if Colwill is out, that will mean 3 of our usual back 4 missing the game at Liverpool – the worst possible situation to be in as we look to bounce back from a very disappointing draw.
