Chelsea need to bounce back from a bad result in midweek, and the good news for the Blues is that they should be able to restore almost their full strength side to take on Bournemouth today.
Enzo Maresca backs star player to start
“I don’t know [if he can play] 90 minutes, but Cole is ready to play from the start,” Maresca said when pressed about Palmer’s status as a potential starter in the game today.
He was a sub against Leeds, which got some important minutes in his legs after more than two months out. We’re still not quite convinced Maresca will risk him but it’s not impossible.
Also in that presser, Maresca spoke about what kind of game he expected. Bournemouth will press much like Leeds did,
“We need to be aware of where we go [when away from home]. In terms of the intensity, the environment, whether it is a small pitch. We need to be ready for all these things,” the boss explained.
“I learned more from the Leeds game than against Arsenal or Barcelona because we did a few things wrong that we need to avoid in the future. Hopefully, we can start showing that tomorrow [against Bournemouth].”
The atmosphere won’t be as intense as it was at Elland Road – let’s hope we can take advantage of that.
In other presser news…
Liam Delap is the player who could move out of the team for Cole Palmer, and that’s a move a lot of fans would support. His manager made a defence of him in the press conference yesterday, saying he was sure he would start scoring soon.
Estevao Willian was taken off at half time on Wednesday, and Enzo Maresca talked about that decision in his press conference today.
