Chelsea set to add new player to Premier League squad for Leicester as Maresca makes seven changes

Chelsea's crucial three-week stretch has started just as Enzo Maresca both needed and wanted it to. With back-to-back wins, six goals scored, and just the one conceded. There is a cautious sense of optimism again.

The caveat here is that Chelsea have played one of the worst Premier League teams ever and FC Copenhagen, the third best team in Denmark last year. The away trip on Thursday night for Conference League action actually raised more concerns than answers, too, such was the nature of the performance.

On one hand it could be seen as a positive away European display with a changed team - two teenagers started - and a first-leg lead to take back to Stamford Bridge next week where Chelsea will be comfortable favourites. On the other it was largely stale, slow, and outright dull from the get-go and Chelsea conceded a poor goal to keep their opponents interested at a time whereby they could have been cruising.

The two times Maresca's side did up the ante they found a way through and moved into a good position to take the tie past Copenhagen. The fallibility of giving up such a poor goal does not inspire.

The good news is that on Sunday it is the downbeat Leicester City who visit. The whole benefit of this run before the international break is that Chelsea should be able to string together four wins without playing well, boosting their top four hopes and progressing into the Conference League quarter finals.

The real test will come in a week when they visit Arsenal. For now, Maresca must rotate his side to welcome Ruud van Nistelrooy's horrifically out-of-form Leicester.

Given the way Chelsea's head coach likes to mix-and-match his XIs, plenty of changes can be expected. Although this was a much stronger team than was seen during the group stage - owing to slightly stronger opposition, injuries, and a host of Conference League regulars leaving - it was still mainly a backup selection.

Maresca will certainly be swapping out Robert Sanchez in goal. He is now the confirmed 'cup-keeper' and Filip Jorgensen is set to keep his place in the Premier League and won't have a better chance to record consecutive clean sheets than here.

In defence and Tosin Adarabioyo is likely to keep his own place with Levi Colwill coming in as he did at halftime on Thursday. Wesley Fofana is now back in contention but has not played despite returning. He will make the bench but may need gradual introduction before starting games. Marc Cucurella entered Thursday's game earlier than Colwill as a substitute for Malo Gusto and will surely start as well here.

The right-back slot is harder to nail down. Reece James could play but it would still be a risk to give him two games in four days. Although he is on his best run in the team for three years he has not been tested with multiple matches in a week all season.

If James is out then Gusto could return to his natural spot on the right. Injury makes him a doubt. Trevoh Chalobah was nominally the right-back on Thursday but slotted into a centre-back role in-possession. He could keep that spot or Josh Acheampong comes in.

It is not clear what Maresca will do, especially as James has been preferred in midfield recently. football.london has Chalobah in defence and James further forward. It is possibly the most uncertain of all areas of the pitch.

Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo shared halves in Denmark but are expected to line up together as usual. Maresca says he is not thinking about the suspension risk of Caicedo as he is just one yellow card away from a two-match ban. If he picked that up against Leicester it would see him miss the trip to Arsenal, where he will most definitely be needed.

Elsewhere and Romeo Lavia will be carefully managed as he returns from injury so stays on the bench here. It is set to be the first matchday squad he has made since the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth in early January. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall unsurprisingly drops out.

Cole Palmer slots in ahead of the midfielders and has another chance to get his personal tally up and running again after a barren stretch. Pedro Neto comes back in as the centre forward whilst Jadon Sancho gets the nod on the left. Tyrique George deserves a good go off the bench if nothing else after his recent impact.

Chelsea changed XI for Leicester: Jorgensen; Chalobah, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; James, Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Neto, Sancho.

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