Chelsea face nightmare scenario for Enzo Maresca's Leicester return as three early doubts emerge

Enzo Maresca faces a battle with former employers Leicester City after the international break, though he may be returning to the King Power Stadium with a depleted Chelsea team.

The decision to sack Mauricio Pochettino - when results had improved - and seek out the Foxes' manager at the time seemed to be a wild decision. Results this season have firmly put any doubts to bed though with Maresca's men sitting third in the Premier League table.

Draws with Manchester United and Arsenal in recent weekends have got two of the tougher fixtures on paper out of the way, and once the November international break is done Chelsea have one of the so-called easier fixtures against Leicester.

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Steve Cooper took over once Maresca moved to Stamford Bridge, and with 10 points acquired so far they sit 15th in the table. The break may have come at a good time for them having failed to win their last three matches.

The Blues' boss will aim to get one over on his old side, and would wish to have his whole squad available. Even if they do all return without injury from international duty this month, there are three regular members of his team that at least now look like doubts to return in time.

This is because the trip to the East Midlands has been scheduled for the dreaded Saturday 12:30pm kick-off slot on Saturday, November 23, leaving a tight turnaround for Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson between fixtures.

In South America, Caicedo's Ecuador play their second World Cup qualifier of the break against Colombia on Tuesday, November 19, with kick-off scheduled for 11pm UK time. Fernandez's Argentina kick-off against Peru an hour later at midnight on Wednesday, November 20, meaning both will likely make it back to London in time to restart club training on the Thursday - two days before the Leicester clash - whilst catching up to a new time zone.

Jackson is in a similar situation, with far to travel after Senegal host Burundi in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on November 19. That match begins slightly before the South American ties, at 7pm UK time, so the striker too would likely only return two days before the Premier League resumes.

As he has rotated many times this season in different competitions Maresca knows full well he possesses a huge squad with talent to spare, but for a fixture with some personal weight to it he would hope to have his first-choice team ready to go.