Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca could be without a key player after the international breakChelsea manager Enzo Maresca could be without a key player after the international break
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca could be without a key player after the international break | Getty Images
Chelsea face Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon with one player walking a suspension tightrope
Chelsea will look to keep their bid for a Champions League place on track as they travel to take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Ahead of the weekend, the Blues are inside the top four, two points behind Nottingham Forest in third.
The Stamford Bridge outfit are two points above Manchester City and Newcastle United while Brighton are just three points behind in seventh spot. Victory over Arsenal would give their top four hopes a significant boost and further decimate Arsenal’s chances of winning the title.
Maresca admits his long-term goal is to better compete with Arsenal moving forward. He said: “The gap right now is quite big, and the reason why is because they are working with the same manager for five years, so the difference is quite important.
“With the same players, they have already played in some important games, but our target and duty is to close that gap between us and them. In this moment, the table shows the difference is six points, so we are quite close and have ten games to go. We’re not focused on whether they can be three, six or nine [points ahead]. We are focused on our game and how we try to beat them. Hopefully, we can beat them and we will be closer.’”
Premier League suspension rules
Ahead of their clash with Arsenal, the Blues have one player who is facing a two-game ban after picking up an astonishing five yellow cards in his last seven games. Premier League rules state that any players who collect 10 yellow cards in their club’s first 32 games will be handed a two-match suspension. Will Hughes of Crystal Palace and Fulham’s Sasa Lukic are the first two players to hit the 10-caution mark this season but a clutch of players have been booked nine times so far.
One of those is Moises Caicedo, who has really racked the bookings up in recent games. The £115m signing from Brighton has been booked against Wolves, Man City, Brighton, Aston Villa and Southampton. In his last seven games the only matches he wasn’t booked in was against West Ham and the most recent win over Leicester City. If the Ecuadorian picks up a caution against Arsenal, he will be banned for games against Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford after the international break.
Caicedo has played every Premier League game for Chelsea
Caicedo has started all 28 of Chelsea’s Premier League games so far this season, and has been named captain on a handful of occasions by Maresca. The Chelsea boss is clearly a fan of the midfielder, as evidenced by his comments on him last month.
Maresca said in early February: “Since we started he has been doing fantastic in all aspects. He’s improving a lot, he’s understanding the game, he’s going in different positions and he’s open-minded. He’s a good guy, he’s humble, he works hard, so for a coach he is the perfect player.
“He’s playing a lot of minutes, but I think if you compare to other players at Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City, there are many players that play more than Moi is playing for us. Moi is playing more or less one game a week and at 23 if you cannot play one game a week that means there is something wrong.”