Chelsea have announced their starting lineup for today’s UEFA Champions League group match against Ajax at Stamford Bridge. Jorgensen will be in goal, and Robert Sanchez will be on the bench. Moises Caicedo is likely to play right back, and Romeo Lavia will play central midfield with captain Enzo Fernandez.
Tosin and Wesley Fofana are in the middle of the defense, and Hato is on the left side of the back four. Estevao and Jamie Gittens play on the wings, Facundo Buonanotte plays as the advanced midfielder, and Marc Guiu leads the attack.
Sanchez, Merrick, Reece James, Acheampong, Chalobah, Cucurella, Walsh, Andrey Santos, Neto, Garnacho, Kavuma-McQueen, and George are all on the bench.
Several starters have had important recent experiences with Chelsea. Tosin Adarabioyo joined the club on a free transfer from Fulham before the 2024/25 season, giving them more options at center-back. Marc Guiu came from Barcelona after the Blues paid his release clause. After agreeing to a deal in 2024, Estevao moved to Chelsea this summer on a long-term basis.
The bench shows how deep the team is, with regular left-back Marc Cucurella ready to step in if needed.
Chelsea want to take charge of their group campaign against Ajax right away, and the game starts at Stamford Bridge. The chosen XI suggests that the focus will be on moving the ball up the field from defense, protecting the midfield with Lavia and Enzo Fernandez, and using Estevao and Gittens to cause trouble.
Maresca addresses injuries and the red-card trend before Chelsea vs Ajax
Before Wednesday’s Champions League league-phase game against Ajax at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca used his pre-match briefing to stress the importance of discipline and managing injuries. He said that the club is being careful with Enzo Fernandez’s return and that recent red cards have made it harder to plan the squad.
Maresca said:
“It’s very difficult, especially because many of the injuries we had, has been the day before the game or two days before the game, when we already had an idea about the game.
“But it’s something that we are trying to adapt and try to learn. For the players also it’s complicated, because sometimes you plan for some players, OK, you want to play in one week, and then suddenly you need other players because you end up thinking to start the injury. So it’s something that we are trying to do our best since we started.”
Maresca’s comments come after a period in which there were a lot of red cards in recent games. He has downplayed this as a “teaching” issue, but said that things need to get better. Chelsea have gotten four red cards in six games before this week.
Ajax are having trouble getting results and scoring goals in Europe, but the Blues have gotten back on track after a tough September. They are looking for their second league win in their third European match under the new Swiss-style format, which gives each club eight opponents.
This game is part of the new Champions League league phase, which has one 36-team table instead of the old groups. The top eight teams go straight to the round of 16, and teams 9–24 go to the playoffs.