Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca hasn’t said anything about who he will start as striker in the important Premier League game against league leaders Arsenal on Sunday. After using Pedro Neto as a central forward in the midweek Champions League win over Barcelona, the Italian coach now has a big choice to make.
The Blues host the Gunners at Stamford Bridge in a match between the top two teams in the league. Chelsea wants to close the gap on their London rivals.
Maresca’s risky decision to play Neto in the middle of the field worked out well in Europe. Still, he now has to choose between sticking with that flexible system and bringing back a well-known center forward like Liam Delap or Joao Pedro into the starting XI.
Before the game, Maresca talked to the club’s official media about how flexible his attacking unit is. The former Leicester City manager admitted that Neto is a different kind of striker than the ones he usually uses, having used the Portuguese winger in a central role several times since last season.
“We used Pedro [Neto] as a nine last year, we used Pedro as a nine the last game, and we also used Pedro as a nine for a period two games ago, against Wolves. He’s a different option.”
The Chelsea manager talked about how many talented players he has to choose from, stressing that he has plenty of options if he wants to go back to a more traditional structure:
We have Liam, we have Joao Pedro, we have Marc Guiu, we have Pedro when we need him… In some games even Ty has played as a nine. I’m not saying who is going to play as a nine on Sunday – but I know!”
The comments make it clear that Maresca has already made up his mind about how to get past the Arsenal defense, but he wants to keep Mikel Arteta guessing until the teamsheets are released.
Neto gives Chelsea speed and fluidity, but Delap’s physical presence or Joao Pedro’s technical link-up play would give them different ways to get past a strong Arsenal defense.
Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer is ready to play against Arsenal
There is still a lot of talk about who should play striker, but Maresca’s squad got a big boost when Cole Palmer came back. The important playmaker is reportedly healthy and ready to play for the first time since September 20, which is excellent news for one of the biggest games of the season.
Maresca must now think about the risk of putting Palmer right back into the high-stress setting of a London derby against the safety of letting him ease into it.
Since the game is so important—first place could be on the line—the manager will want to start Chelsea’s creative star. However, he has been careful with players who have been out for a long time before.