Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has another dilemma when it comes to his squad selection ahead of their next Premier League game against Leicester City.
With every game extremely important right now, the Blues will be calling on their key players such as Cole Palmer, Reece James and Moises Caicedo to step up with big performances to help them qualify for the Champions League next season.
It looked as if Maresca had one eye on the Premier League when selecting his side for the Conference League win over Copenhagen, with a number of key players on the bench.
Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo rotated at half-time, something which looked a predetermined decision with there just three days before the next game against Maresca’s former side.
Photo by Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Photo by Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Enzo Maresca will not rest Moises Caicedo for Chelsea vs Leicester
Caicedo currently sits on nine yellow cards, with another booking seeing him pick up a two-game suspension.
If that occurs against Leicester, the Ecuador international will miss the key game against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
There has been an argument that Caicedo should be rested in order to protect him from missing that game.
Despite that risk, Maresca confirmed Caicedo will feature, and is hopeful he can avoid picking up a suspension this weekend.
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He said to GiveMeSport: “No, no, no. I know that [my staff] said this to me, but at this moment for us, it’s about winning games. We need to win games, so we cannot plan on giving Moi a rest thinking that he can play Arsenal.
“We need to win against Leicester and then we need to focus on how we can beat Arsenal. It’s just game by game, and we need our best players on the pitch.
“The position of Moises, if you see his background, last year he had 11-12 yellow cards, the year before the same, because he’s a midfielder. You are in the traffic. Sometimes you have to make some fouls. It’s normal. Hopefully, he can avoid that until the end, knowing that it’s probably difficult.”
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Caicedo will be excited about Chelsea future
After being the most expensive signing in Premier League history, Caicedo has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world.
However, there have certainly been moments where he has needed more help in there, particularly when Romeo Lavia has been injured.
He will therefore be optimistic about Chelsea’s prospects in the future when Andrey Santos returns from his loan at Strasbourg.
Santos will be a first team star next season, and will take a lot of the workload off the Ecuador international, also allowing Fernandez to play further forward in his preferred role.