Ahead of Bournemouth’s clash with Chelsea, Andoni Iraola has addressed Moises Caicedo’s suspension.
Chelsea have a tough away trip to the Vitality Stadium on Saturday and they will be without their star midfielder, who is serving a suspension for the red card he received against Arsenal.
Caicedo will miss two more league fixtures for Chelsea, and fans will be hoping his absence isn’t felt as heavily as it was against Leeds.
In the buildup to the tie, Iraola has had nothing but good things to say about Chelsea, but he did make a strange comment about the Ecuadorian.
Andoni Iraola is backing Enzo Maresca 👏
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Andoni Iraola talks about Enzo Maresca
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Andoni Iraola would be happy for Chelsea to have Moises Caicedo, if…
There’s no denying the influence Caicedo has on this side. Maresca says Chelsea missed Caicedo against Leeds, and he’s absolutely right.
The Bournemouth boss acknowledges the quality the Blues are missing, but he thinks his side have it just as tough.
The Spaniard has two midfielders also suspended for this game, and he would happily let Chelsea have Caicedo in exchange for having them available.
During his Bournemouth press conference, he said: “They have a big player missing that is Caicedo. That I think is important for them, but I would give them Caicedo you know, if they give me Tyler [Adams] and Lewis [Cook] probably.
Moises Caicedo playing for Chelsea vs Bournemouth
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
“But it’s true that is a big player for them.”
While he is simply backing his players’ quality, it’s a strange one. Caicedo is one of the best players in the Premier League, and his presence in the engine room would make it a much trickier afternoon for Bournemouth.
Cook and Adams are decent players, but that’s a trade-off Maresca would take any day of the week.
Iraola expects a full-strength Chelsea XI
Maresca was in the hotseat after some questionable personnel decisions against Leeds, but Iraola thinks a much better starting lineup is on the cards for Saturday.
THAT Palmer finish against Bournemouth🥶
Was this Chelsea's best goal last season?
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He says: “Enzo is rotating the team and keeping all the players alive. Also, they changed quite a lot the team the other day against Leeds.
“So, I expect a lot of the normal starters that had a rest to start against us. So, it means it’s going to be like their best XI or close to their best XI. So, we have to be ready for the best Chelsea. We know that, especially this season, they’ve been really, really good.”
We agree with the Bournemouth coach. Maresca has some tough calls to make for Bournemouth, but it should be a massive step up in quality from what we saw at Elland Road.
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