Former Premier League striker and TalkSPORT pundit Darren Bent has had his say on Chelsea midfield duo Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
The Blues are spoilt for options in midfield and also have Enzo Fernandez amongst their ranks, whilst they have high hopes for talented youngsters Lesley Ugochukwu and Andrey Santos, who are on loan at Southampton and Strasbourg respectively.
Enzo Maresca made a big call in last weekend’s defeat to Liverpool as he dropped Fernandez to the bench in favour of Lavia.
Bent a fan of Caciedo and Lavia’s midfield partnership
Lavia’s start at Anfield was his first start since the opening game of the season against Manchester City and he put in a really impressive and composed performance.
The Belgian was subbed off after 53 minutes along with Reece James with Maresca admitting he didn’t want to leave the pair on the pitch for too long.
Caicedo was outstanding against Liverpool and also provided the assist for Jackson’s goal, with former Blue Emmanuel Petit labelling him the best midfielder in the league this season.
The Lavia and Caicedo partnership showed promising signs and it certainly has the potential to become one of the best partnerships in the league.
Bent has had his say on the pair and admitted he was a fan of the partnership and believes they offer Chelsea more protection.
“I thought Caicedo was good again [against Liverpool], flying around the park,” he told talkSPORT.
“I almost feel like when they’ve got Lavia and Caicedo, it’s more protection. I quite like those two. If you’re going to have Palmer as the 10, I quite like that. The moment you lose one of those, it’s a bit lopsided.”
Quite what this means for Fernandez remains to be seen and it will be interesting to see if Maresca continues with the duo or brings the Argentine back in against Newcastle on Sunday.
However, on the evidence of last weekend it feels Chelsea’s midfield is better balanced and it suits the team more with Caicedo and Lavia in there.
