Alejandro Garnacho will make his first start for Chelsea when they take on Lincoln City at the Sincil Bank Stadium in the EFL Cup third round on Tuesday.
Chelsea will be eager to return to winning ways and progress to the EFL Cup round of 16 when they lock horns with Lincoln City in the third-round tie at the Sincil Bank Stadium on Tuesday evening. Enzo Maresca has a new roster issue to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Robert Sanchez is the latest absentee after being sent off in the first few minutes of the Premier League clash with Manchester United this past weekend. The Spanish international has joined Levi Colwill (knee), Benoit Badiashile (muscular), Romeo Lavia (knock), Dario Essugo (hamstring), and Liam Delap (thigh) on the sidelines.
Additionally, Mykhailo Mudryk remains unavailable after failing a doping test several months ago. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca provided fitness updates on Cole Palmer, Benoit Badiashile, and Romeo Lavia.
The Chelsea manager said, “Cole is probably the only one that we need to assess a little bit. The rest are okay, just recovering from last week. He already made a huge effort last Saturday to try and play the game. He tried Saturday morning, he was not 100 per cent, but he wanted to be there to help his team-mates in that kind of game.”
“It was painful [for him], so we decided to change. We await day by day to see how he is and then decide what we do. Cole is one, and then we have some players who have had problems for a long time like Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro. They are trying to manage it a little bit themselves, but then the rest are okay.”
Discussing the absence of Badiashile and Lavia, the Chelsea boss said, “[Benoit and Romeo] will not be back for this game, unfortunately. They both took part in the session yesterday, which is good news, and hopefully they can be available soon.”
Filip Jorgensen will take his place between the sticks due to Sanchez’s suspension, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Lincoln City on Tuesday. The backline will feature Malo Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Jorrel Hato.
As for the midfield unit, Andrey Santos should line up alongside Enzo Fernandez in the double pivot. Facundo Buonanotte will reprise the no. 10 role, with Estevao Willian and Alejandro Garnacho being the two wide attackers. Finally, Marc Guiu will lead the line for the away side against Lincoln City on Tuesday.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; Gusto, Chalobah, Tosin, Hato; Santos, Fernandez; Estevao, Buonanotte, Garnacho; Guiu