Chelsea had a successful first leg in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League on Thursday against Legia Warsaw. Next is a Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge where they will host Ipswich Town. Here are the three things to look out for from the match.
1. Key attacking choices finally starting together
Since the international break, apart from a few players, Enzo Maresca has most of his squad available for selection. However, his team selection has not looked like that yet. For example, Chelsea’s attack looks better when the trio of Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer, and Noni Madueke starts together. However, he is yet to field all of them together till now.
Since all three had injury issues of various kinds before club football returned from the international break, minutes have to be managed for them. However, going forward, Chelsea has not had a great time in recent months, so not starting them together seems very strange. It could be said Maresca’s decision had its effect on Chelsea not getting three points against Brentford last week.
Chelsea won their Conference League match 3-0 away in Poland. Such a big win means the chances of Chelsea losing that lead at home seem very minute. As such, it's a fixture Maresca can use to rest his first-choice players.
However, their Sunday match against Ipswich Town is not something Maresca can take lightly. In the reverse fixture, the Tractor Boys defeated Chelsea 2-0, their only home league win this season. The match at Stamford Bridge thus should see the trio starting together for the first time in over two months.
2. The effect of Champions League race heating up
It is now confirmed finishing inside the top five will be enough for a Premier League club to confirm their place in the UEFA Champions League for next season. Chelsea entered the game week fourth in the table. However, after Saturday's results, the Blues are sixth. If they fail to win against Ipswich and Newcastle win their match later on Sunday, Chelsea will drop to seventh.
Last week, Chelsea had a chance to close their gap with Nottingham Forest when the latter lost their match. Manchester City dropping points after their draw meant Chelsea could have extended their lead had they won their game before Manchester City were in action.
Even though all the chasing pack that had a match today won and overtook Chelsea in the process, Nottingham Forest once again lost. As such, even though a win will mean the gap between the chasing pack remains the same, they can reduce the gap between the team ahead of them to just one.
With Newcastle, who is currently level on points with Chelsea, having a game in hand, and other teams like Manchester City and Aston Villa close by, Chelsea could not afford to drop a point in their remaining fixtures. Unfortunately, the Blues have the toughest fixtures to the end among the top-five chasing teams. Ipswich Town, who are currently 18th in the table, is an opponent they should defeat comfortably.
3. Rested legs could be crucial
One advantage Chelsea had as a result of playing in the UEFA Conference League is the fact that Enzo Maresca could afford to rest certain players during such fixtures. Players like Cole Palmer were not even part of the league phase squad. In almost every group stage match, Chelsea had close to a full eleven changes.
However, during the January transfer window, a few of those players left the club either permanently or on loan. This has seen Chelsea being short of players in certain positions, which has meant certain players having to play without much rest.
Three of such players have been Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, and Enzo Fernandez. However, Maresca decided to rest them last Thursday, and it means they had a rare full week’s rest ahead of the Ipswich match. With Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, and Noni Madueke all playing just 45 minutes in the first-leg match, fatigue should not be an issue on Sunday. Additionally, Nicolas Jackson and Pedro Neto also had full rest.
On the other hand, Malo Gusto and Reece James both started last Sunday against Brentford and then again against Legia Warsaw on Thursday. Both have had their injury issues this season. On the positive side, both players were taken off in the second half. Playing players out of position might have worked in the Conference League so far, but it has rarely worked in the Premier League. At a time of the season when Chelsea just cannot afford to drop points, the last thing they need is a position where the corresponding players are not available.