Chelsea are facing Wolves today, and there was a very surprising change on the teamsheet.
We had predicted that Moises Caicedo wouldn’t start today as he had played 180 minutes in our last two games. But instead, it was Romeo Lavia who didn’t appear, with Caicedo back in the mix for a third go in 7 days.
The team’s slight lack of depth in defensive midfield has been exposed right away, with Lesley Ugochukwu loaned out recently and Conor Gallagher sold, Caicedo is our only real player able to sit deep and break up play while Lavia is out.
It had to be an injury forcing the decision to put Caicedo back in again, and indeed before kickoff coach Enzo Maresca has confirmed that the Belgian has an issue:
“’He has a small problem with his hamstring, an irritation but nothing that is a major problem,” the manager said.
“It’s nothing serious but one that we didn’t want to risk” the coach concluded.
It sounds like the former Man City man will be ready for next weekend, so we will just have to hope we can muddle through today without his impressive tempo-setting presence in the middle.
Enzo’s best laid plans fall apart already
Sigh. No sooner has the season started than we’re right back in the nightmare of injuries and rotation. We thought we’d make it to the second league game of the season without issue, but no.
What’s worse about this is that it could have a knock on effect. We all know what comes next – Caicedo plays his third game in 7 days, and gets a light injury himself. Then Lavia is rushed back next week to fill in for Caicedo… the whole best laid plan of minute distribution will be out the window before we’ve even hit September.
