Chelsea are in an interesting position at the moment. With pre-season in full swing and three games under our belt, we are now well beyond the point where the manager picks each player to run 45 minutes per game.
From tonight’s game against Manchester City, to the subsequent games against Real Madrid and Inter Milan, we will be playing against the best teams. Not only that, we will also start by fitting the players and get an idea of what Maresca’s starting XI will be for the big kick-off of the Premier League campaign on August 18th. Tickets for this game are still available to buy at www.livefootballtickets.com.
Several players have a chance of slotting into Maresca’s plans, particularly with three potential starters (Connor Gallagher, Cole Palmer and Mark Cucurella) yet to join the squad and likely to be unfit for the first week.
So who could benefit the most from the next three friendlies? Who could use this time to show they deserve a starting spot? We’ve picked three that might not immediately come to mind.
Levi Colwill He stands out. He’s a great player and could be perfect for this team as a left-back, or as a midfielder, or as a left-centre back. With Cucurella out and Ben Chilwell being used more as a winger, Colwill is very likely to be used a lot in the last three games. He has a chance to earn a place in the team, but with so much competition at left-back and centre-back, he knows he has to step up and deliver.
Romeo Labia Another player has to do it all. He has been impressive in his last few games, but there is so much competition for his position that it is unclear whether he will actually secure a starting spot. Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are too expensive to play and must-play, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is Maresca’s second-in-command on the pitch. So where does Lavia fit in if you want to have three attackers on the pitch?
Christopher Nkunku He has looked really clean in the game so far, but there are still questions about where he fits in. Nicholas Jackson is likely to lead the line, with Cole Farmer likely to play on the right. Will Nkunku fit into a team that plays on the left? That would mean leaving out Raheem Sterling and Mikhail Mudrik, but it’s hard to see how that could happen otherwise at the moment.
