Enzo Maresca could be forced into two big Chelsea changes for crucial Leicester City clash

Enzo Maresca returns to his former club on Saturday afternoon as Chelsea take on Leicester City for the first time since the Italian was appointed Blues head coach.

Appointed at Stamford Bridge in the summer after winning the Championship with the Foxes, the 44-year-old coach has made quite the start with Chelsea. Despite Maresca having to implement a complex ideology onto a young group of players, the Blues sit prettily in third-place as we approach the end of the final international break of the year.

However, this Leicester clash is crucial to keep their positive start to the season up. Saturday afternoon's match at the King Power Stadium will be the first time this season the Blues have taken on one of the newly-promoted sides - games they have to win in order to compete this term.

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Maresca will already have some idea in his head about what XI he wants to put out against the Foxes but the Italian will have to wait until all of his players are back at Cobham before making any definitive decisions. Bar any late injuries in the coming days, Robert Sanchez is expected to remain in between the posts for Chelsea with Filip Jorgensen on the bench.

Meanwhile, in defence, Reece James could come in for Malo Gusto. 21-year-old defender Gusto withdrew from the France Under-21s squad last week with a slight knock, although the severity of the Frenchman's injury remains unknown at this point in time. Either way, James will have had two weeks working with Maresca and his staff back at Cobham, so the captain is expected to come in at right-back.

All being well, Wesley Fofana will partner Levi Colwill once again as Maresca looks to build a strong partnership between the two centre-backs. Marc Cucurella could start on the left-hand side of a back four and tuck in as an attacking midfielder, like we have seen from the Spaniard and Gusto in recent matches.

Romeo Lavia did not feature in either of Belgium's two games against Italy and Israel because of an injury. The 20-year-old midfielder limped off in Chelsea's draw with Arsenal before the break and it has since been confirmed that he hurt his hamstring at Stamford Bridge.

This means we could see the midfield duo of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo at the King Power. Fernandez could replace Lavia, although he and Caicedo are not expected to be back in the UK until Wednesday and we do not yet know whether they will take part in Thursday's training session.

Ahead of them, Noni Madueke on the right-hand side, with Cole Palmer in the middle and Pedro Neto on the left. There could be shouts for Madueke to be dropped after recent performances in a Blues shirt but he once again showed great form for England during the international break.

Nicolas Jackson to lead the line. Chelsea will then be able to call upon the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho and Mykhailo Mudryk from the bench if needed.

Possible Chelsea line-up: Sanchez; James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson.