Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca may only make one enforced change when they travel across West London to face Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.
Liam Delap’s unfortunate hamstring injury is set to sideline him for several weeks, so Joao Pedro could move into a central role for this trip to the Gtech, even though Marc Guiu has been recalled from his loan at Sunderland as a result.
A lot will hinge on whether Cole Palmer is fit to return after missing Chelsea’s last two matches, and England duty a week ago, with a glaring hole needing to be filled behind the striker if he cannot return in time.
No player is quite on Palmer’s level, but there is no shortage of players who could come in, and that was added to late in the window, as the Blues signed both Alejandro Garnacho and Facundo Buonanotte, who could make their debuts this weekend.
Estevao has quickly adapted to English football, and he should start again out wide after some promising performances early in his Chelsea career, but playing 30 minutes in the sickening altitude of El Alto in Bolivia with Brazil on Tuesday night could be a slight concern.
There are no such concerns regarding Enzo Fernandez, as the Chelsea vice-captain was left at home by Argentina due to a suspension that he had to serve in the first of their two qualifiers last week.
One position where Maresca could make a tactical switch is at right-back, where Malo Gusto got the nod against Fulham, with Reece James waiting in reserve, but with a trip to Bayern Munich coming up in midweek, the England man could be kept back for that.
Elsewhere on the injury list, Dario Essugo has had to undergo surgery that will see him miss the rest of 2025, but Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile are much closer to returning, and they could be back within the next week.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Gusto, Tosin, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Garnacho; Joao Pedro
Click here to see how Brentford could line up for Saturday's encounter.
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