Chelsea will be eager to return to winning ways and remain in the fight for a top-five finish when they lock horns with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon. Enzo Maresca has no new issues to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Wesley Fofana is the most notable absentee due to a long-term hamstring injury that has prematurely ended his 2024/25 campaign. The French defender accompanies Gabriel Slonina, Omari Kellyman, and Mykhailo Mudryk on the sidelines.
However, there is some positive news, with Romeo Lavia in contention to return after spending several weeks on the sidelines. During his pre-match press conference, Maresca confirmed the Belgian midfielder’s potential availability.
The Chelsea manager said, “Romeo is back. He is training with us and can be available for Sunday’s game. With him, we are going to try the same thing we are trying with Reece (James). I would like to play Reece every three days, but we are trying to manage him to help him. We will try to do exactly the same thing with Romeo because, for us, he is an important player.”
Maresca also discussed his pleasure at having rested several critical players in Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg against Legia Warszawa. While the match ended in a defeat for the West London outfit, it did not stop them from reaching the semi-finals.
The Chelsea boss said, “We rest Enzo (Fernandez), Moi (Caicedo), Levi (Colwill), Noni (Madueke, Pedro (Neto), we rest many players. We are, for sure, not happy about the Conference League result, but at the same time, we try to manage a little bit and rotate players.”
Robert Sanchez should replace Filip Jorgensen between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Fulham on Sunday in a much-changed starting lineup. The backline should feature Malo Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, and Marc Cucurella.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the double pivot. Cole Palmer will reprise the no. 10 role, with Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke being the two wide attackers. Finally, Nicolas Jackson will lead the line for the away side against Fulham on Sunday.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
