Chelsea will aim to return to winning ways and reach the EFL Cup quarter-finals when they lock horns with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in the fourth round on Wednesday night. Enzo Maresca has received positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Malo Gusto (suspension) and Liam Delap (hamstring) are available, and the duo has travelled to Wolverhampton for the EFL Cup tie. While Gusto served a one-match suspension against Sunderland this past weekend, Delap has recovered from a hamstring issue.
However, Levi Colwill (knee), Benoit Badiashile (muscular), Dario Essugo (thigh), and Cole Palmer (groin) remain in the treatment room. Additionally, Mykhailo Mudryk is still serving his suspension after failing a doping test several months ago. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca provided a fitness update on Liam Delap and confirmed his intention to rotate his troops.
The Chelsea manager said, “Yes, we need to rotate. We need to protect the players because if we go with the same XI, we are going to struggle during the season. We probably will make some changes against Wolves, I don’t know how many, but we will make changes. I don’t know if it’s going to be nine or 10 like it was from Forest to Ajax, but for sure we need to make some to rotate and help protect the players.”
“There are players that they need to be protected for many reasons, so tomorrow we’ll see. Enzo, Moi, Joao – they are all players, for different reasons, we need to protect them. Yes, Liam is available for the game.”
“He completed the whole session with us yesterday with no problems and he is available for tomorrow. We have to be careful with Liam and [it’s unlikely he will play] 90 minutes, no. He’s been out for two months, so he needs to be gradually brought back up to 100 per cent.”
Filip Jorgensen will replace Robert Sanchez between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday. The backline will feature Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, and Jorrel Hato.
As for the midfield unit, Romeo Lavia and Andrey Santos should pair up in the double pivot, with Estevao Willian reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Tyrique George will lead the line for the away side against Wolverhampton Wanderers, with Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Hato; Lavia, Santos; Gittens, Estevao, Garnacho; George
