It’s the Europa Conference League and magical Thursday nights ahead for Blues fans, assuming that is they can get past their Swiss opposition in the qualifier. This is a Chelsea predicted lineup as they look to navigate new waters and ration out minutes to their squad.<\/p>\n
Enzo Maresca is still clearly adjusting to the best setup for his team but the Premier League opener did shine some light on who the first-choices are. Robert Sanchez was in goal while the back four consisted of Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, and Marc Cucurella.<\/p>\n
Read More:\u00a0<\/strong>Chelsea Set Strict Wage Demand for Signing ‘Top’ Striker Target<\/a><\/p>\n In pre-season, there were some slightly interesting combos with Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarbioyo, and Benoit Badiashile featuring in occasional back three\/back four hybrids.<\/p>\n Romeo Lavia has been the first-choice DM through pre-season and into the Manchester City match with Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Christopher Nkunku, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall getting minutes in the midfield.<\/p>\n Read More:\u00a0<\/strong>‘Agreement Reached’: Deal in Place for ‘Elite’ Player to Join Chelsea<\/a><\/p>\n Up front, Marc Guiu started a run of matches due to Nicolas Jacksoon’s injury. The Senegal man is back and supplanted the Spaniard in the league so looks to be the first-choice striker. Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Tyrique George have had minutes as the wingers.<\/p>\n Maresca has not been set in his ways formation-wise, he’s tweaked it a lot since first arriving with his 4-3-3 morphing into something like a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-2-2-2 at times. In earlier friendlies, he used an inverted fullback to make a 3-2-4-1 setup that could make its return here against lower-level opposition.<\/p>\n Read More:\u00a0<\/strong>Five Chelsea Stars Ready to Shine in 2024\/25: Players Who Will Define the Season<\/a><\/p>\n The flexibility in formations has been paired up with a lack of results on the pitch. The Blues only beat Club America in their pre-season tour and lost to Celtic, City, Real Madrid, and then drew with Inter and Wrexham. The defence has looked leaky and the attack has looked wasteful, two common issues since Clearlake took over.<\/p>\n The manager has confirmed two absentees as Reece James<\/a> is still injured while Fofana<\/a> is out of the squad to manage his comeback after missing all of last term with injury.<\/p>\n The traits of players like Palmer and Nkunku has forced a switch in how Maresca plays compared to Leicester. Both players prefer to drift inwards meaning his full-backs have been operating as more traditional wide players to hold width.<\/p>\nChelsea Recent Form and Tactics<\/h3>\n
Chelsea Injuries to Consider<\/h3>\n
Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs Servette<\/h3>\n