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Enzo Maresca will make his return to King Power Stadium where he led Leicester City back to the top flight of English soccer a season ago. After a tough run of games, Chelsea’s schedule now gets significantly more friendly on paper. Leicester City will be Chelsea’s first game against a newly promoted side this year.
The Blues sit third despite its difficult schedule to start the season, albeit nine points back of league leaders Liverpool and only one point clear of ninth place, Aston Villa. The pack has bunched up in the fight for the top four in the Premier League, so Chelsea must string together wins in this lighter part of its schedule if it’s to seriously contend for the UEFA Champions League positions.
Maresca announced that captain, Reece James will miss the game thanks to yet another hamstring issue. Other than that, the squad is healthy, although Romeo Lavia did pick up a slight discomfort playing for Belgium. Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo made a long journey back after playing in South America’s World Cup qualifiers, leaving Maresca with interesting decisions as to which players lineup in his midfield base.
GK: Robert Sánchez — The Spaniard’s performances have made goalkeeper a need for Chelsea in future transfer windows as he’s shaky showings continue to be heavily scrutinized. He remains as the preferred option for the time being.
RB: Malo Gusto — Without James, Gusto has become Chelsea’s starter for over a year now. His ability to drift into a central, attacking pocket almost as a number eight has been highlighted by Maresca.
CB: Wesley Fofana — Fofana will face his former team and will hope to help get Chelsea’s first EPL clean sheet since late September.
CB: Levi Colwil — Colwill was one of eight England players that withdrew from the squad this past international break. With two weeks to return to …
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