Lincoln City vs Chelsea – Team News: Maresca frustrates again with strong team against minnows | OneFootball

Chelsea face Lincoln City at Sincil Bank in just over an hour, and the teams are in! Enzo Maresca is really annoying us with his teams now.

He’s gone with Filip Jorgensen in goal, which we expected. Beyond that, it’s mostly disagreeable.

Marc Cucurella is rested for Jorrel Hato at left back. That’s fine. Malo Gusto plays at right back to give Reece James a rest – that’s fine too.

But instead of changing things up in the middle of defence as we expected, Maresca picks the same pair that started against Man U on Saturday night.

If you can’t trust Josh Acheampong to play against a League One team in the Carabao Cup third round, when can you trust him? What was the point of him signing a new contract if he’s going to be treated like this? How can Maresca complain about tired players when he’s so useless at resting them?

It’s a similar story in midfield where Enzo Fernandez is mystifyingly wheeled out to play yet again. He needs a rest as much as anyone – why not use someone like Reggie Walsh, who Maresca has called “perfect” for his system? You don’t have to use 10 academy kids, just one or two would make the difference.

The rest of the team has Andrey Santos alongside Enzo in midfield, with Facundo Buonanotte making his second start for the Blues in the hole ahead of them. Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho are out wide, with Tyrique George up front.

Here are the full team line-ups for Lincoln vs Chelsea (kick off at 19:45 GMT)

CHELSEA:

Enzo Maresca’s selection to face Lincoln in the EFL Cup.

Intransigent Maresca leaves fans puzzled

We really just despair at this point. There are so many players in this team who either should be rested, or should be left out to give young players a chance.

When the squad is falling apart because of injuries and fatigue later this season, it’s games like this we’ll remember.