Trevoh Chalobah will feature in the starting lineup for Chelsea against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday after returning from his loan spell with Crystal Palace.
Chelsea will be desperate to return to winning ways when they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Stamford Bridge on Monday night. And Enzo Maresca has greeted a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Trevoh Chalobah is available for selection after the Blues cut his loan spell with Crystal Palace short. However, Maresca is sweating over Cole Palmer’s fitness, with the English international recovering from an ankle issue.
Maresca also has concerns about Levi Colwill and Enzo Fernandez, while Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile remain on the sidelines. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca discussed how he would manage Reece James’s fitness after returning from his latest hamstring issue.
The Chelsea manager said, “For sure he’s important, but also in this moment he can be even more important. Reece is an important player for us and one of the most important because he’s our captain and because we know how good he is. Since we started he hasn’t always been fit, but he is better now and with him back we are happy.”
“For Reece, it’s not about if he scores goals or how many minutes. It’s about managing his situation. So we will see. For sure, if he has played 45 minutes it means he can be ready [for Wolves], but what we don’t want with Reece is that we go again and he has an injury again. We don’t want that. Since we started, we are trying to help him and we are doing exactly the same at this moment.”
The Chelsea manager also provided a fitness update on others during his presser, saying, “We were without Cole today, he was not in the session. Levi was also not in the session today, Enzo wasn’t in the session today, Romeo wasn’t in the session today. So we have three or four players who are doubts for Monday’s game because of the last game.”
“Cole had a kick in the ankle in the first half [against Bournemouth]. He didn’t train today and we don’t know if we’ll train tomorrow or in two days. It’s the same situation with Enzo, Levi and Romeo. It was quite an easy process [to recall Chalobah]. We have a few injuries, as you know, so we were looking for a solution and we thought the best solution would be to call back Trev. Firstly, because we know him very well and secondly because we know he can help us. So we went for that solution.”
Trevoh Chalobah will feature in the Chelsea starting lineup against Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the home side lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Robert Sanchez will take his spot between the sticks, with the backline consisting of Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Reece James, and Marc Cucurella. Josh Acheampong will start again if Colwill is not fit enough to make it to the lineup.
As for the midfield unit, Romeo Lavia will pair up with Moises Caicedo in the double pivot if Enzo Fernandez does not prove his fitness. Christopher Nkunku will be on standby if Cole Palmer is not fit enough to start. Finally, Nicolas Jackson will lead the line for the home side against Wolverhampton Wanderers, with Noni Madueke and Jadon Sancho being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
