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Chelsea fans on X (formerly Twitter) have been left surprised as Enzo Maresca made three changes to his starting XI for the match against West Ham United. Liam Delap, Reece James, and Tosin Adarabioyo make their first starts of the season, with Jamie Gittens, Malo Gusto, and Josh Acheampong making way.
The main talking point among the fans has been the manager's decision to start both Delap and Pedro in the match. The two are competing for the starting role this season, but the manager hinted at the change in his press conference.
When asked in the pre-match press conference this week, he said:
"I think Joao, with us, he can play the five positions at the front, the winger, wide or inside the pitch or behind the striker. I think he can play in all the positions. For sure, probably as a No.9 or behind the striker is his best position, but he can play in all attacking positions for us."
The Chelsea fans have now reacted to the team news and said:
Waooooo. What a surprise 🫢 Pedro and Delap playing together. Let's see how it goes
Joao Pedro and Delap together ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
"Joao Pedro AND Delap. I hope this works. Would have loved James in the mix somehow though. Estevao and Acheampong missing out feels weird. Estevao 100% comes on in second half, not sure about Acheampong.", said a fan soon after the lineup was announced.
"You can never predict this coach Woow", expressed one fan about Maresca.
"Pedro AND Delap is very nice. Big man and fast man. Split strikers FC." added another.
"Don't expect this lineup. Let's go boys" said another who was just hoping for the right result.
Chelsea drew their opening game of the 2025/26 season with Crystal Palace and are hoping for their first win of the campaign.
Enzo Maresca unsure about Nicolas Jackson's future at Chelsea
Enzo Maresca was asked about the future of Nicolas Jackson at Chelsea, and the manager admitted that the striker was training but would not be involved in the game. He added that transfer away is on the cards and said:
"He is available but he's not going to be part of the squad because, as we already said, we have two strikers, we have two players in that position and also we know that something can happen before the transfer window closes."
"No idea, to be honest. No idea [which club Jackson will join]. You know already from last season that I prefer to be focused on training sessions, prepare the game and these kind of things. I don't know. Christo is with us like Nico, but it's the same answer as Nico. And the other two players, they are training apart, waiting for some solution."
Levi Colwill is out for 2025, while Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile are nearing a return. Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell are not training with the first team.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
Sripad has been a Chelsea fan through and through since the age of 9 and can watch their 2012 Champions League triumph on repeat. The undisputed ‘GOAT’ according to him is Lionel Messi and his favorite managers are Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson. Apart from popular European leagues, he also likes to follow other leagues like the MLS, Saudi Pro League, Eredivisie, and Liga MX.
Sripad believes in only using the right sources for his articles, and is an expert in understanding how to get the right quotes for each news to provide proper background information. His exploits have led him to become a popular figure in European Football and interviewing Premier League legends such as Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Paul Dickov, and John Barnes. His articles have been much revered amongst the football fraternity and have been shared by the likes of John Terry, Gary Lineker, and Declan Rice.
If given a chance to change a football rule, Sripad wants VAR to be fully automated and offside rules to be less stringent. When not working, he likes to watch past Formula 1 races and play FIFA.
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