Chelsea: Enzo Maresca's young squad on consistency hunt against Wolves amid sea of unpredictability

In partnership with

Evening Standard

·8 November 2025

Chelsea: Enzo Maresca's young squad on consistency hunt against Wolves amid sea of unpredictability

West Londoners aiming to settle down after inconsistent start

Chelsea’s 1-0 win at Tottenham last weekend felt like business as usual for the Blues.

Tottenham were particularly insipid against Enzo Maresca’s side last Saturday, but three points have become commonplace for the Blues in this fixture, with this their fifth successive victory over their London rivals.

The west Londoners’ hold over Spurs is remarkable - losing just once in 90 minutes since January 2019 - but under Maresca, they have developed a knack for raising their game against the traditional top-six teams.

OneFootball Videos

However, in games, such as today’s clash at home to 20th-placed and managerless Wolves, Chelsea have tended to struggle.

Presented with an opportunity to underline their title-winning credentials against supposedly lesser opposition, Chelsea’s performances have lacked intensity, with Maresca’s young squad guilty of getting complacent.

The Italian is aware of this, admitting in his pre-match press conference that beating teams when the expectations are high and trying to break them down is “something that we need to do better.”

It is that word - expectation - though, that keeps cropping up in Maresca’s press conferences. It is not a word his young squad are coping with all too well at the moment. The pressure to perform when the pressure is off.

“I can understand that this season, the expectation has risen around the team,” the former Leicester boss said.

The Blues followed up a successful debut season under Maresca, in which they qualified for the Champions League and won the Conference League, with a shock victory in the Club World Cup final against PSG.

Their performance against Luis Enrique’s side, scoring three times without reply before half-time, felt like the start of their journey towards becoming one of Europe’s most exciting young teams.

The reality, however, has been far less enthralling, with Chelsea struggling for consistency, having won only five of their opening 10 league games.

The fact that they were given less than two weeks to prepare for the start of the new season helps explain a lot of their issues, with injuries piling up and many of those who are fit playing through pain.

Maresca is not hiding behind excuses though. He knows his team need to embrace the pressure of their newfound expectation.

"Again, last year, after 11 games, I think we had 19 points,” the Italian explained.

“If we are able to win [against Wolves], we have more points this season [at this stage] compared to last season.

"So, do we have consistency or not? The big difference for me, personally, from this season and last season is the expectation around the team. Because the numbers are there and we can be even better than last season. But because the expectation has risen, it's obviously a big difference."

Wolves, without a manager after sacking Vitor Pereira, are something of an unknown quantity.

They have appointed under-21 coach James Collins and under-18 boss Richard Walker to take charge today, and Maresca is not leaving anything to chance.

The Italian has watched back footage of Wolves’ under-21 side to get a feel for how they might set up at the weekend.

Ironically, though, the biggest surprise might be left to Maresca, whose constant tinkering - Chelsea have made 85 changes in 16 matches across all competitions - is set to continue, as the Blues hunt for consistency amid a sea of unpredictability.

“The way I prepare the game, I always try to do the right things for the players to put the players in situations where they can be comfortable and give everything, but also try to surprise a little bit the other team.”