Maresca could fix Lavia hole by unleashing “very important” Chelsea star

Chelsea have the prospect to shut the hole between themselves and Liverpool within the Premier League desk to only two factors with a win in opposition to Brentford, which might additionally transfer them 4 factors forward of third-place Arsenal.

Enzo Maresca continues to say Chelsea are usually not in a title race, however a victory in opposition to the Bees would make it very onerous for him to proceed with these notions. Chelsea are averaging the fourth-highest possession within the league this season with 56.4%, are taking 15.3 photographs per recreation (fourth most once more), and are solely conceding 11.6 photographs per recreation (sixth fewest within the division).

Nevertheless, the Italian can be totally targeted on going one recreation at a time, with this recreation in opposition to Brentford being handled the identical as another, which might embody some extra tactical tweaks, particularly within the absence of Roméo Lavia.

Chelsea workforce information pre-Brentford

Three gamers who will definitely be out for the Blues are Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Pedro Neto. James and Fofana each lacking by damage, while Neto is suspended after choosing up six yellow playing cards within the Premier League.

Mykhailo Mudryk is one other who probably received’t be concerned, as he has missed Chelsea’s final three video games, being out by sickness. Lastly, it additionally appears Lavia should be monitored after being taken off at half-time in opposition to Tottenham, affected by hamstring ache.

With the Belgian midfielder prone to miss out, Maresca should discover one other method to set his aspect up, shifting his Chelsea jigsaw round and getting his finest accessible gamers into the workforce.

How Chelsea can fill the Romeo Lavia void

Maresca has labelled defender Marc Cucurella as very “essential” previously for his Chelsea aspect, and with Lavia lacking, the Italian will seemingly use the Spaniard to configure his workforce appropriately, platforming the likes of Enzo Fernández, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer with the intention to get the very best from them.

The flexibility of Cucurella, who maybe was fairly “embarrassing” within the phrases of Jamie Carragher in opposition to Spurs final weekend, permits Maresca to maneuver him into extensive central defender positions, as now we have seen typically this season, taking part in on the left of a again three in possession – but in addition invert into midfield at each deeper and extra superior heights.

Towards Brentford, the full-back will seemingly invert alongside Caicedo. In flip, this may enable Fernandez to advance into the left half-space, obtain the ball and dictate play from this zone, the place he has discovered immense success in current weeks, scoring three objectives and registering three assists in his final 5. Cucurella gives further stability alongside Caicedo to cowl Fernandez’s defensive qualities, having related restoration numbers to Lavia.

Not solely does the Euro 2024 winner carry the off-ball tenacity wanted to maintain strain in these central areas, however he additionally has the on-ball qualities that Lavia can present, making 3.46 progressive passes per 90 and 1.15 progressive carries per 90.

Maresca can steadiness the workforce in Lavia’s absence with the utility of Cucurella inverting into midfield, permitting everybody to nonetheless occupy their best-attacking zones, and the Blues to suffocate Brentford in their very own half, being aggressive off the ball, and counter-pressing with excessive depth.