Premier League action resumes after the final international break of the year, as Chelsea visits Leicester City to kickoff matchweek 12.
Enzo Maresca will make his return to King Power Stadium where he led Leicester City back to the top flight of English soccer a season ago. After a tough run of games, Chelsea's schedule now gets significantly more friendly on paper. Leicester City will be Chelsea's first game against a newly promoted side this year.
The Blues sit third despite its difficult schedule to start the season, albeit nine points back of league leaders Liverpool and only one point clear of ninth place, Aston Villa. The pack has bunched up in the fight for the top four in the Premier League, so Chelsea must string together wins in this lighter part of its schedule if it's to seriously contend for the UEFA Champions League positions.
Maresca announced that captain, Reece James will miss the game thanks to yet another hamstring issue. Other than that, the squad is healthy, although Romeo Lavia did pick up a slight discomfort playing for Belgium. Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo made a long journey back after playing in South America's World Cup qualifiers, leaving Maresca with interesting decisions as to which players lineup in his midfield base.
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Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs. Leicester City (4-2-3-1)
GK: Robert Sánchez—The Spaniard's performances have made goalkeeper a need for Chelsea in future transfer windows as he's shaky showings continue to be heavily scrutinized. He remains as the preferred option for the time being.
RB: Malo Gusto—Without James, Gusto has become Chelsea's starter for over a year now. His ability to drift into a central, attacking pocket almost as a number eight has been highlighted by Maresca.
CB: Wesley Fofana—Fofana will face his former team and will hope to help get Chelsea's first EPL clean sheet since late September.
CB: Levi Colwil—Colwill was one of eight England players that withdrew from the squad this past international break. With two weeks to return to full fitness he should be back partnering Fofana as they've done for the majority of the season in the EPL.
LB: Marc Cucurella—Cucurella was very impressive handling Bukayo Saka in the last game before the break. Although he fell out of the starting lineup in the past month, it's been a very solid season for the Spanish left back.
CM: Moisés Caicedo—Caicedo has been fantastic this season, playing up to the standards of his $147 million transfer price tag. He'll once again anchor Chelsea's midfield
CM: Enzo Fernández—Fernández had four assists in his last two games for Chelsea and was probably Argentina's best player over the last qualifier games. His rise in form plus the weaker opposition should give him the nod over Lavia.
RW: Pedro Neto—Neto took over in the right wing against Arsenal and scored the tying goal from that position. Before the season, Maresca said he viewed him as a right winger and with Noni Madueke's last goal involvement for Chelsea coming on Oct. 6, Neto could usurp the starting role on his preferred side.
AM: Cole Palmer—Palmer has been quiet recently compared to his early season standards. He'll hope the two week rest helped him get back to his best as Chelsea's most threatening player.
LW: Mykhaylo Mudryk—Mudryk's performances in Chelsea's mid-week games recently warrant him a chance to start in the EPL for the first time since Aug. 25.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs. Leicester City: Premier League.
