Chelsea’s team news for today’s game against Arsenal is out, and there are two really notable things in the Blues’ XI.
Firstly Cole Palmer starts, shaking off injury fears in the wake of getting his knee studded by Lisandro Martinez. Secondly, Reece James has dropped out of the team, with Malo Gusto switching to the right hand side and Marc Cucurella coming into the team.
Maresca has a full squad to choose from, with no restrictions, fitness or freshness concerns. He has perhaps tweaked his back line a little to prepare to take on a very large and physical Arsenal team, but apart from that this is his ideal XI. Someone like Enzo Fernandez was never going to return for a game like this, with his coach looking for physicality and solidity in the middle.
James, on the other hand, will feel hard done by, but we’re sure he’ll be unleashed in the second half to do some damage.
Arteta shows his hand by unleashing both question mark players
It’s not just Chelsea with lineup surprises. Arsenal had question marks over two key players in the build up to this game, but both Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice are fit to start. That means a much tougher game in prospect for Chelsea, but it should still be winnable given the quality in our starting lineup and all through our bench.
As Sky Sports’ man at the ground Oliver Yew noted, it’s great news for the neutral:
“So, it’s good news all-round as big games, which this one is, call for the big players, and they will be on show here this afternoon.”
But as he also notes, “the smiles might be slightly wider from an Arsenal perspective” as they have two key players available to Chelsea’s one. Let’s hope it’s the Blues fans smiling more broadly at full time.
