Chelsea face a difficult task this week of needing to travel to Copenhagen and come away with a victory in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League round of 16. The Danish club are currently top of the Superliga table ahead of FC Midtjylland and are in fine form with four wins and a draw in their last five fixtures.
Making the trip all the more difficult is that the Blues will not be able to rely on some big name players due to injuries and suspensions. Mykhailo Mudryk remains sidelined because of his doping suspension and several other key players are not ready to return from their injuries.
First choice striker Nicolas Jackson is not ready to return after his injury in early February and the club has missed his presence in front of goal greatly. Fellow striker Marc Guiu is still out as well and likely will not be back until April at the earliest so that leaves Pedro Neto as the most reliable striker option at the moment.
Noni Madueke is still out with a hamstring injury and his natural replacement Neto is playing up top, so we can expect to see Jadon Sancho out there on the right wing. Maresca may also choose to roll the dice here and go with youngster Tyrique George who did well after coming on late against Southampton. George has been great in the UECL and has looked comfortable in the European competition.
Romeo Lavia is still out despite there being hopes he could feature against Southampton so that leaves the Blues a bit thin in central midfield. Mathis Amougou was added to the squad after his late transfer so we may see him deployed in the center of the park.
In terms of good news, superstar Cole Palmer was also added to the squad after the league phase and we can expect him to reclaim his place in attacking midfield. He is in a goal scoring drought but is still working hard and creating dangerous chances which will be much needed against the Danish Lions.
Trevoh Chalobah was added to the squad as well and is scheduled to be back from his injury suffered early on against Aston Villa. Tosin Adarabioyo did well as his natural replacement but Chalobah is currently ahead of him on the depth chart and could slot in at centberback.
Another big name player in Wesley Fofana is back in the Chelsea squad after missing more than 2 months with injury. Fofana was in the squad for the win agaisnt Southampton and he is a candidate to start in the crucial match as well. Perhaps Maresca will wait until the Leicester match to give him a full return but there is always a chance he features in the UECL.
Copenhagen are a serious team with real ambitions to win the UECL and they will be raring to go against a club with a reputation in Europe like Chelsea’s. Enzo Maresca won’t be going to Denmark with his full squad thanks to injuries but there should be plenty in the arsenal to come back to London with a great result.