Renato Veiga is set for the biggest challenge of his short Chelsea career as Enzo Maresca prepares to start the Portugal international at left-back against Liverpool.
Maresca has a dilemma on his hands with regular starter Marc Cucurella suspended for the trip to Anfield after picking up five yellow cards already this term.
The Chelsea boss could opt to shift Levi Colwill across from centre-back, but he is also going to be without Wesley Fofana who is also serving a suspension.
The chances of Maresca playing Ben Chilwell in such a big match after giving him only 45 minutes of action in this campaign so far are slim, so it looks like Veiga will be the man to step in.
Veiga was a relatively low-profile addition for Chelsea when he completed his £12million move from Basel in the summer. But while England international Chilwell has been frozen out under Maresca, Veiga has been given increasing responsibility in the team.
He has already made eight appearances so far this season out of a possible 11, scoring once. Veiga started both Chelsea’s Conference League victories over Servette, before showing his versatility by filling in as a central midfielder in their 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
His positional flexibility was part of what attracted Chelsea, having featured at left-back, centre-back and as a defensive midfielder for Swiss club Basel.
Veiga also played the whole of the 5-0 Carabao Cup thrashing of Barrow and scored in the 4-2 Conference League win over Gent.
His impressive performances saw Portugal manager Roberto Martinez give him his international debut in their 3-1 Nations League victory against Poland on Saturday, where he shone at centre-back.
“I’m very pleased because he didn’t play like a young player, he showed incredible maturity,” Martinez said. “He was a focused and aggressive centre-back, he won every duel, he’s very strong in the air. His debut level shows his potential.”
At Chelsea, Veiga has regularly been used as a substitute to replace Cucurella at left-back, but starting him there for the trip to Liverpool would be a big step up.
Veiga would likely be tasked with controlling Liverpool star Mohamed Salah on Merseyside, as well as Trent Alexander-Arnold who loves to get forward from right-back.
Anfield is an intimidating place for any player, but Veiga will be confident that he is up to the task
At 6ft 3ins, his physicality will be important in keeping Salah and Alexander-Arnold quiet, while he is fast for his size and has the passing ability and vision to start attacks for Chelsea.
Veiga is strong in the air in defence and attack, as he showed by heading home Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross to score against Gent. Anfield is an intimidating place for any player new to the Premier League, but Veiga will be confident of showing he is up to the task.
