Chelsea are without Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto for Saturday’s clash against Leicester.
The third-placed Blues will travel to the King Power Stadium at lunchtime for the first Premier League match after the last international break, boosted by the fitness of a number of key players who have withdrawn from their squads respective nationals last week.
Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Levi Col will all start as usual for Chelsea in the East Midlands, while Romeo Lavia is fit enough for the bench and Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez both line up in midfield although they only returned from the World Cup qualifiers in South America. THURSDAY.
Jadon Sancho is also named as a substitute after missing out before the break through injury and illness, although Gusto and Neto are both out of the squad entirely.
Standard sport understands that Gusto – who withdrew from the France under-21 squad last week – will miss out against Leicester through illness, while striker Neto will not have the opportunity to capitalize on his impressive equalizer against Arsenal following a Nations League knock that forced his early return from duty in Portugal. Maresca has since confirmed these reasons for both players.
Chelsea are also missing Reece James at the King Power, with their captain due to undergo a scan next week to determine the extent of another hamstring injury. Young summer signing Omari Kellyman is also still out with his own hamstring problem.
Without James or Gusto, Benoit Badiashile steps into Chelsea’s defense against Leicester as Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall make their first return to their former club following last season’s league title.
Fernandez replaces Lavia and leads the team with James out, while Neto’s place in the attack is taken by Joao Felix. Dewsbury-Hall and Sancho both come on the bench.