A starter in all 10 league games so far, Pedro Neto (£7.1m) wasn’t risked in Chelsea’s midweek draw with Qarabag because of a “small issue” but will train on Friday.
Speaking at Friday’s press conference, Enzo Maresca also confirmed that Romeo Lavia (£4.9m, quad) is on the sidelines. A place where Cole Palmer (£10.3m, groin), Benoit Badiashile (£4.4m, muscle), Levi Colwill (£4.8m, knee), Mykhailo Mudryk (£5.0m, suspended) and Dario Essugo (£4.3m, thigh) already are.
“We don’t have an update at the moment. We need to wait still some hours to do all the checks that he needs. But for sure, yeah, at the moment, he is injured.
“He is painful, so we need to do all the checks, then we will see.” – Enzo Maresca on Romeo Lavia
“Pedro, he had a session yesterday with the physio outside on the pitch. It was good. Today he will try with us and then we will take the final decision.” – Enzo Maresca on Pedro Neto
READ MORE: Press conferences for Gameweek 11
Inevitably, the Chelsea boss was asked about rotation after he made seven changes for the Champions League meeting.
“We are okay. The players rested yesterday and we have a session this afternoon.” – Enzo Maresca
“When the rotation is Andrey Santos, Brazil international player, Jorrel Hato, Netherlands international player, Estevao, Brazil international player – it’s not about rotation. They are good, they are talented, they are young. For sure, when they are young, you have to give them the chance to make mistakes to be better.
“I think in this moment, football is a bit different compared to years ago in terms of physicality and intensity. For me, personally, it’s impossible to play with the same players, 65 games in one season, Champions League, Premier League. You need to rotate; this is my personal view.” – Enzo Maresca on rotation
Meanwhile, Moises Caicedo (£6.0m) was supposed to be rested in Baku. But Lavia’s early injury saw him come on as an eighth-minute substitute.
“Absolutely, yes [it hurts our chances to rotate Caicedo]. The other day, I think we said already, two or three times, that we have Caicedo, we have Enzo Fernandez, we have Pedro Neto, we have Joao Pedro, they are all players that are not training every day, because of small issues.
“So if we are able to give them some time off, rest, it’s better. But in this moment, you see, Moi, the other day, after five minutes, he was on the pitch..” – Enzo Maresca
defensive contributions