Neto dropped, Sancho starts - Enzo Maresca faces Chelsea headache after quadruple injury boost
Chelsea will be looking to build some momentum under Enzo Maresca after they found a late winner against Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
The Blues go to the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon looking to make it three victories on the bounce away from home at the start of this Premier League season. A 6-2 thumping of Wolves last month was followed by a late 1-0 victory away at the Cherries - a result that lifted Chelsea to eighth in the top-flight table.
"I think played two different games," Maresca said when asked what he thought of the win in Bournemouth. "I think first-half we struggled and second-half was much better.
"The reason why we struggled first-half for me was because we didn't win duels, we didn't win second balls and in this stadium against this team, first of all you need to show the desire to win the duels and then also the tactical part is important. But first of all you need to show that.
"This was the message after 45 minutes to the players that in this kind of games you have to finish the game with your t-shirt dirty because you need to fight. Second-half, I thought we were much, much better."
An important half-time message from the Italian but also a hugely significant change at the break. Pedro Neto, who struggled in the first 45 minutes down on the south coast, was taken off with Jadon Sancho replacing him to make his debut for the club following his loan move from Manchester United.
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And it was Sancho that made the decisive goal. A nice, clever pass into the feet of another substitute in Christopher Nkunku led to the Frenchman spinning his man and firing the ball clinically into the bottom right corner.
Going into this weekend's clash at West Ham, Maresca has some serious thinking to do when it comes to his team selection. The Blues head coach made four changes during the win at the Vitality Stadium - and three of them really impressed. Sancho and Nkunku, obviously, but also defender Tosin Adarabioyo, who did a fine job when entering the fray on 62 minutes on the south coast.
Couple that with the quadruple boost of four players returning to training on Monday morning. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Enzo Fernandez, Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia were all taking part in Chelsea's training session at Cobham following their absences.
Lavia has been sidelined since the first-leg of the Conference League playoff at home to Servette on August 22 with a hamstring injury, while Gusto picked up a minor thigh problem before the international break against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. Fernandez and Dewsbury-Hall both missed Saturday's victory due to illness.
However, five days before Chelsea make the short trip to Stratford in London, it looks as if all four will all be in contention for the match - leaving Maresca with a bit of a headache, albeit a welcome one, when it comes to selecting his starting line-up.
Renato Veiga started in the middle with Moises Caicedo down in Bournemouth and the 21-year-old continued his fine start in a Chelsea shirt since making the move from Switzerland in the summer transfer window. With Lavia and Fernandez back, though, we could see Veiga drop out of the side.
In the only Premier League game where all three of Lavia, Fernandez and Caicedo have been fit this season, we saw a three-man midfield from Maresca. Although that was against the best team in the league in Manchester City, so it may have been more to try and combat their midfield than anything else.
Against West Ham, a team that are very physical when it comes to their midfield players, we may well see Maresca opt with a three-man setup once again to try and outplay the Hammers in the middle of the pitch. This would mean in turn, an attacker is dropped.
Sancho warrants a start after his performance, and so does Nkunku. Perhaps Maresca will go with the latter in the No.9 role, Sancho on the left and then star player Cole Palmer on the right wing? It remains to be seen, but there are a number of big questions facing Maresca this week.