We are now in the month of March and what a crucial 30 days this will be in Chelsea’s season. It could literally define whether or not this campaign will be looked at with fondness or not.
The Blues‘ only chance of winning a trophy this season lies with the UEFA Conference League – a competition they have not played in since December after dominating the league phase of the European tournament. Chelsea, though, fly to Denmark in the next few days as they take on Copenhagen in the Round of 16, with the first-leg in the Danish capital and the second at Stamford Bridge a week later.
Enzo Maresca is starting to get some of his injured players back and available, with Wesley Fofana being included in the squad for the win against Southampton on Tuesday after almost three months out with a hamstring injury. However, Fofana has been left out of the Conference League squad list due to load management and Chelsea not wanting to overuse the France international and risk another muscular problem, given his torrid luck with injuries in recent seasons.
Trevoh Chalobah is set to return in the coming days after the defender missed the win against the Saints because of a slight knock he suffered in the defeat to Aston Villa last weekend. Apart from that, it looks like the rest of the injured players will be returning after the two-week international break later on in the month, with Maresca getting closer and closer to having a fully fit squad. Touch wood.
With that said, football.london takes a look at two different teams Maresca could possibly field – one that is, on paper, much stronger and the other used as a setup to rest some key players.
First Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Neto; Jackson.
At the moment, Filip Jorgensen is the No.1 goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge. Robert Sanchez lost his place recently after a string of poor performances but Jorgensen is yet to make the position his, with question marks over the young Danish shot-stopper still.
Reece James has been impressive since returning to fitness at the beginning of the year. There is no doubt that if he can remain fit and available for Chelsea then he gets in the first-team and the centre-back duo seems fairly nailed on as well.
Fofana and Levi Colwill were showing promising signs of forming a solid partnership at the heart of the defensive line before the former’s injury in December. Since he has been sidelined, Chelsea have missed the defender perhaps more than initially anticipated.
Marc Cucurella is the first-choice left-back at the moment with no depth in that position whatsoever following the loan departures of Renato Veiga and Ben Chilwell over the January transfer window. Malo Gusto can play out there but is more natural on the right-hand side, and the same applies to James.
The midfield duo of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez is nailed on with both players having an increased significance during the second half of the season. The return of Romeo Lavia will be a huge boost for Maresca to give him more balance in the middle of the pitch. Chelsea, though, will be cautious and careful with the Belgian given his track record with injuries during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Then, the front line is just a matter of opinion really. The two things you can say for certain are that Cole Palmer starts as the No.10 and Nicolas Jackson just ahead of him. Then there can be arguments for Jadon Sancho, Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku and Pedro Neto. There is not a lot in it either way but right now, given current form, you would have to say Neto.
Second Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Dewsbury-Hall, Amougou; Madueke, Nkunku, Sancho; Guiu.
