Enzo Maresca reveals anger at the Premier League for Chelsea's repeat problem | OneFootball

Blues boss rails at early Saturday fixture slot after international break

Chelsea face Burnley at Turf Moor in the early lunchtime match on Saturday and will have to do without Cole Palmer after he fractured a toe in a freak accident.

A number of Blues players jetted across the globe on duty for their national teams, with Moises Caicedo returning back to London late on Thursday night following Ecuador’s 2-0 win over New Zealand in New Jersey in a game that finished at 3:30am GMT on Wednesday.

Maresca was asked whether that kick-off time should be scrapped on weekends that immediately follow an international break.

“At least for it not to be the same team,” he said. “Because, if I’m not wrong, after the last international break [in October], we played 12:30pm Forest away.

“We accept it once, but not two times in a row,” the Italian added.

“The schedule is the schedule, and we try to do our best.”

The former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had an acute dislike of the 12:30pm slot and criticised the Premier League for scheduling Liverpool to play matches which began at that time.

Chelsea won 3-0 at Forest in October as they picked up where they left off in terms of strong form before the international window.

The Blues won 3-0 against Wolves in their final match before this month’s internationals, and Maresca has called on his players to maintain momentum at Burnley.

“We have to continue on that, knowing that after two weeks of an international break, the players are away,” he said.

In better news for Maresca, he confirmed that Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto are available for selection after injury.