Chelsea play Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are at the bottom of the table, at Stamford Bridge tonight. They want to bounce back after their loss earlier this week. Maresca’s team drew 2-2 with Qarabag on Wednesday and will play Wolves, who don’t have a manager, next in the Premier League.
Wolves fired Vitor Pereira on November 2 after getting only two points from their first ten league games. James Collins and Richard Walker from the academy are now in charge of the team.
Enzo Maresca said that Lavia won’t be able to play in this game, and a final decision on Neto will be made after today’s Cobham session:
“We don’t have an update at the moment [on Lavia] … but for sure at the moment he’s injured.”
Wolves come in without a win and eight points from safety, having given up a lot of goals at the start of the season. Meanwhile, the Blues want to be more consistent after a mixed bag of league results. Three points would indicate that they are improving after their time in Europe.
Chelsea’s predicted lineup against Wolves (4-2-3-1)
Enzo Maresca has to fill in the gaps in his selection after more injury problems. Romeo Lavia is out, and Cole Palmer, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, and Dario Essugo are still out. Pedro Neto is a late addition to the fitness call after working out on Friday.
Maresca said:
“Pedro had a session yesterday with the physio outside on the pitch, it was good. He will try with us today (Friday) and then we will take the final decision [as to whether he can face Wolves].”
The predicted Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1) is Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Estevao, Fernandez, Garnacho; Pedro.
Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah make the central defense stronger than it was during the midweek against Qarabag, and Moises Caicedo is expected to return as the anchor in the midfield.