“Very good player” hailed by Maresca; could start tomorrow in Premier League game of the season | OneFootball

In his press conference ahead of Chelsea’s game against Liverpool tomorrow, Enzo Maresca has given the team news, and it’s not great. The Blues are still missing “eight” players injured, and Maresca doesn’t know when Cole Palmer will be back.

There has been some positive news in the past week though – the return of Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia.

Both came on as a sub last weekend, then Badiashile started in midweek against Benfica.

Asked how it had been to have a first team defender added back into the mix of a depleted squad, Maresca was as positive as you’d imagine.

Maresca hails Badiashile impact

Benoit Badiashile warms up in the Conference League. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

“Since I joined the club, every time I spoke about Benoit, I always said that for me personally, he’s an important player,” the coach said.

“He’s a very good player. Unfortunately, he has been injured a few times since I joined the club. But again, before the last injury, he was playing almost every game. Before, in the Club World Cup, he had an injury against Benfica. But now he’s back. It’s good news for us, for the team-mates, but especially for him. Because when you are out for a long time, a long period, it’s always a shame.”

Defender must prove his fitness over long term

Badiashile’s injury problems predate Maresca’s arrival. It feels like ever since he arrived in the January of 2023 we’ve been struggling to see him stay fit for more than a few games at a time. The constant absences of a few weeks here, a few months there, stop him picking up any consistency or rhythm. So when he does play, he’s often error prone.

It also makes it hard to rely on him or plan around him – we’ve long written off him and Lavia both as player who are nice to have around, but can’t be planned around.