Reece James and Jadon Sancho will return to the Chelsea starting lineup against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
Chelsea will be eager to return to winning ways when they lock horns with Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday evening. Enzo Maresca has greeted a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Malo Gusto is fit and available to take on Aston Villa. However, Noni Madueke is the newest absentee after picking up a hamstring injury last weekend against Brighton & Hove Albion. The Englishman is the latest player to recover from a thigh issue, with Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Omari Kellyman, Romeo Lavia, Marc Guiu, and Nicolas Jackson also dealing with a similar problem.
In addition, Mykhailo Mudryk continues serving a suspension after failing a doping test. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca provided a fitness update on Madueke.
The Chelsea manager said, “We don’t have any update on the injuries. We don’t have any additional injuries, which is good. Noni will probably be out until the international break. We can have most of the players back after the international break, maybe all of them, and it can be a big boost for us.”
Maresca also heaped praise on Aston Villa and Unai Emery, saying, “Aston Villa are a very good team. Since the new project with Emery, they are doing fantastic. This season you can see in the Champions League they finished in the top eight to qualify for the knockout phase, which is an unbelievable achievement for the club, plus they are fighting to finish in the top four of the Premier League.”
Filip Jorgensen will get the nod ahead of Robert Sanchez to take the spot between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Aston Villa on Saturday. The backline should feature Reece James, Tosin Adarabioyo, Levi Colwill, and Marc Cucurella.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the double pivot. Cole Palmer will reprise the no. 10 role, with Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho being the two wide attackers. Finally, Christopher Nkunku will lead the line for the away side against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; James, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Nkunku
