Chelsea face Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in just under an hour, and the teams are in!
After 7 changes to face Southampton in midweek, Enzo Maresca was always bound to make a similar number of changes today, and he restores his current favoured lineup.
The only player we knew was certain to stat was goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who the coach has made very clear is his number one, and declared after the Southampton game would be his first choice.
Ahead of him, things get interesting.
From the front backwards, it looks like Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho support Nicolas Jackson up top. That’s the first choice front 3 right now, with Noni Madueke on the bench after the coach’s comments about his training levels earlier this week.
Cole Palmer plays in the hole, with Enzo Fernandez close alongside him. Romeo Lavia forms the team’s main pivot.
It looks as though Moises Caicedo will reprieve his interesting role from a week ago against Aston Villa. That means he defends as our right back, but in possession will move into the middle with Lavia.
The back three (as it will be when Caicedo advances and Chelsea are in possession) is Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and Marc Cucurella.
Here are the full team line-ups for Tottenham vs Chelsea (kick off at 16:30 GMT)
CHELSEA:
Your Blues to face Spurs. 📋💙#CFC | #TOTCHE pic.twitter.com/1Yej5GwbTU
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 8, 2024
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Enzo Maresca shouts instructions on the touchline. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Enzo Maresca shouts instructions on the touchline. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Malo Gusto fights for the ball. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Malo Gusto fights for the ball. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
There’s a lot of interesting conclusions to draw from this team – the use of Caicedo in that hybrid role has been a success in getting the most out of Enzo Fernandez, but also has a negative side in that it speaks to Malo Gusto’s bad form and Maresca’s lack of trust in him. Even with Reece James out, Gusto can’t get into the starting team.
Madueke will not have expected to start, but he will be desperate to make an impact off the bench later in the game following Maresca’s comments.