Trevoh Chalobah and Estevao Willian will return to the Chelsea starting lineup when they take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday.
Chelsea will be eager to continue the recent winning run when they lock horns with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon. Enzo Maresca has received a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Maresca has been sweating over the fitness of Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Enzo Fernandez, Andrey Santos, and Pedro Neto. Additionally, Levi Colwill (knee), Benoit Badiashile (muscular), Dario Essugo (hamstring), Cole Palmer (groin), and Liam Delap (thigh) remain in the treatment room.
Mykhailo Mudryk remains unavailable, as he is serving a suspension after failing a doping test several months ago. However, Trevoh Chalobah is back after being sidelined due to his dismissal against Brighton & Hove Albion a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca provided fitness updates on several players, including Cole Palmer.
The Chelsea manager said, “Unfortunately, he needs to be out for probably six more weeks, this is the update. We try to protect Cole as much as we can and the most important thing is that when he comes back, he is fully fit. We hope the six weeks will be enough, but it’s a problem that we need to look at step by step, week by week, but for sure he is going to be okay.”
“They [Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Pedro Neto] didn’t take part in the session yesterday, but we will see if they can train today. Otherwise, they would be out for tomorrow. Benoit will be out until December. He is injured again with a muscle problem. He was doing fantastic, showing how good he is, and how we need him. So we will wait for him.”
Robert Sanchez will retain his spot between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The backline should feature Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, and Marc Cucurella.
As for the midfield unit, Romeo Lavia may pair up with Moises Caicedo in the double pivot if Enzo Fernandez is not ready to start. Facundo Buonanotte will reprise the no. 10 role, with Estevao Willian and Pedro Neto being the two wide attackers; Alejandro Garnacho will start if Neto is not fit enough. Finally, Joao Pedro will lead the line against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo; Estevao, Buonanotte, Neto; Pedro