Chelsea vs Man U – Team News: Maresca puts fan favourite back in for crucial game | OneFootball

Chelsea face Man U at Stamford Bridge in just over an hour, and the teams are in!

Maresca makes surprise changes

It’s all on the line in this game. Enzo Maresca has pretty much worked out what his favourite team is, but he still makes some tweaks here. Reece James is back into the team at right back, ending his spell on the bench and Moises Caicedo’s spell in defence. That hasn’t been a universally popular lineup decision, but fans also want James back in the team. So it’s a lose-lose in some ways.

That mean Romeo Lavia drops to the bench – an interesting decision given how good he’s been in recent games. It can’t be a fitness issue as it’s almost a full week since our last game. We wonder if it’s a “technical decision” as Enzo Maresca would call it, or if he has another minor injury?

Here are the full team line-ups for Chelsea vs Man U (kick off at 20:00 GMT)

CHELSEA:

Chelsea team news against Man U.

Maresca decisions telling about his thoughts on team’s future

It’s interesting to see James at right back, it’s interesting to see Tosin in at centre back for Trevoh Chalobah – there are a lot of interesting things going on which tell us about what Maresca is thinking long term.

How they get on in tonight’s game will also probably have a major bearing. We’ve said many times that the coach should stick with a consistent pair, and Levi Colwill had been doing well with Chalobah. Why change it now?

Another question is what happens up front – with Nicolas Jackson suspended, it will be either Tyrique George or Pedro Neto filling in for him, with the other on the wing. Both have had decent spells doing that job – the question is who gets the chance tonight.