Jadon Sancho remains unavailable to represent Chelsea as the Blues prepare to host FC Noah at Stamford Bridge in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Chelsea will look to continue the perfect start to the 2024/25 UEFA Europa Conference League campaign when they welcome FC Noah to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night. Enzo Maresca does not have any new issues hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Jadon Sancho remains unavailable due to illness, while Omari Kellyman is on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Cole Palmer is recovering from a knock, although the Englishman is not in the West London club’s UEFA Europa Conference League squad anyway.
In addition, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia are unavailable, with Maresca omitting the duo from the Europa Conference League squad to manage their workload. Meanwhile, the Italian tactician spoke about Sancho and Palmer’s issues during his pre-match press conference.
The Chelsea manager said, “Cole didn’t train yesterday so we will see today if he can train with us. We hope [he will be available for Sunday]. We need to wait and see and then decide. Jadon is recovering from illness but he also had a knock in a session. Tomorrow he is out but we will see if he can be available for Sunday’s game, otherwise it will be after the international break for him.”
Meanwhile, Maresca addressed the lack of game time for Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku, saying, “I feel a shame for Joao and I would like to give him more minutes in the Premier League, but we need defensive balance and we cannot play with Joao, Cole [Palmer], Christo. I’d like to put all of them on the pitch but then you need to defend, and you need the right balance.”
The Chelsea manager continued, “I don’t have any doubts that if Joao keeps working well, he will find his moment in the Premier League. Christo, every time he plays, he scores, and he does well. Also, he was probably our best player in pre-season, no doubt. He was playing then as an attacking midfielder and now we are using him as a nine, which we all know isn’t his position, he’s more a second striker or between the lines.”
With Sancho still unavailable, Noni Madueke will start in the final third, joining Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudrk, and Christopher Nkunku in the offensive quartet.